- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Tue, 16 Jan 2024 08:55 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Former US president Donald Trump on Monday achieved his first milestone in the presidential race. Trump won the Iowa caucuses, the crucial first vote to secure his place in the white house. The victory came when Trump was entangled in a legal battle over a plethora of issues.
It was anticipated that Trump's legal problems might have dampened his support but this victory came as a major breather for him, which portrays him as a strong contender in November's election.
With 34 per cent of the expected vote tallied, Trump had 51.9% of the vote, while DeSantis was at 20.7 per cent and Haley 19 per cent, Reuters reported. The largest margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus was 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.
As many as four criminal cases are going on against Trump, and he is likely to face trial before the General Election.
Over one-third of caucus-goers said Trump would be unfit for a presidential berth if convicted. Nearly two-thirds said they did not believe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, embracing Trump's falsehoods about voter fraud, the news agency reported."Trump is very narcissistic, he's very cocky, but he's going to get stuff done," said Rita Stone, 53, a Trump backer, who attended a caucus at a West Des Moines high school.
It's also noteworthy that Trump skipped all five of the Republican debates.
77-year-old Trump left the white house in 2021 amid fervent protest by his supporters at the US Capitol.
Lowa has historically played an outsized role in presidential campaigns due to its early spot on the campaign calendar. However, the winner of Iowa's Republican caucuses did not go on to secure the nomination in the last three competitive contests in 2008, 2012 and 2016. A political battleground that backed Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, the state is now seen as reliably Republican in presidential elections as registered Republicans edge out Democrats.
