Donald Trump won the Republican election in Iowa on Monday, the first vote he faced after shockingly losing the 2020 presidential election. In this rural, conservative state, with a large white population, he eliminated 30 points ahead to his immediate followers.
Two Republican candidates have decided to abandon the campaign after garnering only a handful of votes. The winner rejoices and already says that he will dedicate himself to solving the world’s great problems.
But beyond these data, the first vote in the race for the White House demonstrated that Trump’s alliance with his supporters of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement is fervent, remains intact and appears indissoluble. The big question today is increasingly clear: Is anyone capable of stopping his run for the White House?
Iowa voted in the midst of a cold wave that shook the country, with temperatures of 30 degrees below zero. Predictably, at 7 p.m., Republicans went to caucuses or assemblies at gyms, schools, churches and fire stations to a lesser extent than at other previous events. But Trump voters, faithful to their leader’s appeal, did not hesitate to leave their homes under the snow. to seal the tycoon’s overwhelming victory.
Other voters, such as the more moderate candidate and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, preferred to stay in the warmth of their homes and this put her third, with 18 points, behind Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who she topped with 20. Previous polls had Haley in second place, so the blow to her was tough.
In Iowa, what Trump had once emphasized during the 2016 presidential campaign was more than evident: that he was capable of shooting and killing someone in the middle of 5th Avenue in New York, in front of thousands of witnesses, and that people would continue to support him. His followers (Trump obtained around 75 million votes in 2020) love him despite everything, there is an almost religious devotion that goes beyond all reasoning. The bullets slip away from him. The “Teflon effect” once said of Bill Clinton.
65% of Republicans believe Joe Biden is not the legitimate president and that Trump actually won the election. The majority assures that the 91 charges with which the former president is accused – including conspiracy to alter the results of the elections, seizure of confidential documents and tax evasion from his company – are the product of a judicial and democratic conspiracy to prevent the return of Trump. in power.
No failure seems to move the ammeter of his followers. Nor the assault on Congress, fueled by the former president.
Even though he’s a billionaire from a liberal state like New York, Trump traps the white, conservative working class who say they will lose their jobs to immigrants and want to eliminate progressive or “woke” culture, seen as anti-American and restrictive of individual freedoms. The charisma and simplicity with which Trump speaks to them captivates them, entertains them and gives them the hope of returning to the prosperity he promises them.
It’s not just the working class. More and more graduates would turn to the tycoon. A recent New York Times article noted that many of the most educated people describe the Trump prosecutions as “excessive” and “unfair” and want the United States to prioritize domestic problems such as immigration and high interest rates and not to international ones.
It is true that the rural, Christian, white state of Iowa does not reflect the landscape of the entire country. But Trump has received a huge boost, and the Republican race is now clearer. Fourth-placed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy resigned and threw his support behind Trump. He also went down sixth, Asa Hutchinson.
Next week there will be primaries in New Hampshire and the landscape there will be different because it is a more moderate and independent state. However, polls also show Trump as the winner, albeit by a smaller margin.
Still missing, but The former president seeks to put an end to the internal conflict as soon as possiblein order not to spend a lot of money, dedicate himself to his judicial problems and concentrate on the campaign against Biden, who has no rivals in the primaries. It needs its rivals to throw in the towel as soon as possible. New Hampshire will be a big test: Haley is the more moderate, anti-Trump and globalized, while DeSantis is described as a more conservative “mini-Trump” but who promises less chaos. For now, no one is overshadowing the leader.
On the other side, Biden awaits his rival, in a re-edition of the historic 2020 duel in which the Democrat emerged victorious and the Republican did not recognize him. But the fight will not be easy for him. He is 81 years old and will be the oldest candidate in American history to compete and that is a burden.
Furthermore, according to polls, he is questioned for the management of the economy: even if the country is growing, inflation has fallen to 3.4 per year, unemployment has fallen, 55.8% believe that Biden has not done good work in this respect. Furthermore, Americans are increasingly less supportive of the country’s intervention in complex and costly conflicts such as the war in Ukraine and Gaza.
Democrats believe it Biden is the only one who can stop Trump today and his campaign will be based on the struggle between democracy and chaos. The average of today’s polls gives a tie between the two. His great opportunity will be to seduce the independent electorate because the Trumpist base remains intact and with the possibility of expansion.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.