In a brief speech before supporters, Nikki Haley stuck with a scripted line in which she claimed that Iowa made the Republican primary a “two-person race,” even though she underperformed in the suburban counties that she needed to undeniably present herself as that second person. Likewise, Ron DeSantis came out and delivered a victory speech utterly divorced from the results of tonight’s caucuses. It’s not easy to amend a box-checking exercise like an address to supporters at a victory party on the fly, but this scripted, wooden, unimaginative approach to campaigning is a metaphor for both candidates’ theories of the race. Neither of those theories are especially inspiring tonight.
Haley, in her remarks, declared it a two-person race, making herself the only person standing in the way of a Trump vs. Biden race.
West Des Moines—After finishing a distant second behind former President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses Monday evening, Florida governor Ron DeSantis took the stage to tell his supporters he will continue to fight for the GOP nomination.
“We thank you for your support. You helped us get a ticket punched out of the Hawkeye State. We have a lot of work to do, but I can tell you this as the next President of the United States. I am going to get the job done for this country,” he said. “I am not going to make any excuses. And I guarantee you this I will not let you down.”
Lot of happy talk from DeSantis for the second-place finish tonight, but DeSantis is polling at 6 percent in New Hampshire, according to the FiveThirtyEight average.
If you had to imagine the best-case scenario for Donald Trump heading into the Iowa caucuses, it would have closely mirrored tonight’s outcome.
Trump will end the night with the support of a majority of the state’s vote. His nearest competitor is currently running roughly 30 points behind. That competitor, Ron DeSantis, presents no threat to Trump in the next primary contest in New Hampshire. Nikki Haley, who does pose a threat to Trump in the Granite State, finished third. She will not capitalize the momentum a surprise second-place finish would have provided. And Trump’s most slavish mimic in the race, Vivek Ramaswamy, announced that he was dropping out, freeing his modest share of the Republican primary vote to gravitate back into Trump’s camp.
It was a great night for Donald Trump. It may not have been the best night for the GOP.
In a shocker, Ramaswamy announces he is endorsing Donald Trump.
Vivek Ramaswamy: “As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign.”
The AP has just called second place for DeSantis. He is currently leading Haley by about two points, with 90% of precincts in.
Vivek Ramaswamy is dropping out of the race, per Bloomberg.