By supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Monday night’s caucuses, Republican Kim Reynolds of Iowa has raised the bar for former President Donald Trump.
Reynolds said on Monday morning on Fox News that she believes President Trump would be hurt if he doesn’t reach 50% approval, implying that he isn’t living up to expectations.
According to a 28-point advantage that Trump, 77, has over former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in the Des Moines Register’s caucus eve survey, he is anticipated to humiliate his opponents in Iowa.
No non-presidential Republican has ever won a contested caucus by more than 12.8 percentage points in the modern period (since 1972).
Terry Branstad, the governor before the current one, harshly disendorsed Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, even though Cruz won the caucuses.
In the two months after her decision, Trump has relentlessly hammered Reynolds, expressing his anger about her choice of DeSantis.
“Think we’re about one point behind because that way you’re going to vote,” the former president told his fans, despite polls showing him up big on DeSantis and Haley. He advised against complacency.
Sunday, DeSantis retaliated at the former president, whom he had criticized increasingly in the days leading up to the caucuses.
A good showing in Iowa is crucial to DeSantis’s campaign, which has poured millions of dollars into the contest. Haley, however, has shown signs in several recent surveys that she may pass him for second place.
Apparently irritated by t-shirts featuring the message “Save Trump, Vote Vivek” that surfaced over the weekend, Trump shifted his rhetorical focus to biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy after his strong criticisms of Haley and DeSantis. Ramaswamy rolled with the punches, opting to remain on Trump’s good side.
The Republican presidential nomination process will continue to New Hampshire for the Granite State’s primary on January 23 after the Iowa caucuses.