Des Moines, Iowa: This year’s Iowa caucus was always Donald Trump’s to lose, Ron DeSantis’ to win, and Nikki Haley’s to exploit.
Heading into the first race of the 2024 election year, Trump was the overwhelming frontrunner, with almost every poll showing he had about half of the state’s Republican caucus voters ready to nominate him as their preferred presidential candidate.
Trump performed so strongly that his win was projected just minutes after voting began.Credit: AP
If he didn’t win resoundingly, his rivals would have been able to claim a moral victory and argue that more Iowans braved snow and sub-zero temperatures to vote against him than for him.
If he did win big, it would be yet another sign that the modern-day Republican Party is very much the party of Trump and his Make America Great Again movement.
In the end, Trump’s win was so decisive it was called by the Associated Press just 31 minutes after the caucusing began, surprising some whose votes were still being tallied when the breaking news alerts started coming through.
With most votes counted by 10pm Iowa time, he had won more than 51 per cent – 30 points ahead of DeSantis and Haley, who are now battling it out for second place.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old conservative warrior who had modelled himself on Trump, came a distant fourth and immediately dropped out of the race.
The result was particularly disappointing for DeSantis, the Florida governor previously considered by some as the future of the party.
DeSantis had put all his chips on winning Iowa, hoping it would propel him to the next round of primaries, and eventually into the White House as a Trump-like figure, minus the baggage.
Iowa landslide proves Republicans are ‘buying what Donald Trump is selling’
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16.01.2024
Des Moines, Iowa: This year’s Iowa caucus was always Donald Trump’s to lose, Ron DeSantis’ to win, and Nikki Haley’s to exploit.
Heading into the first race of the 2024 election year, Trump was the overwhelming frontrunner, with almost every poll showing he had about half of the state’s Republican caucus voters ready to nominate him as their preferred presidential candidate.
Trump performed so strongly that........
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