The Bottom Line: 47% Of Iowa Republicans Voted Against Trump

The final statistics are in from the Iowa Circus Caucus. The dust is settling a little and the question earlier tonight, “Will DeSantis or Haley quit tonight? Or both?” Still remains unanswered — except that Vivek did drop out and you’ll see that video below. The final statistics of the Iowa Caucus, according to Meidas Touch, are: Trump 51%, DeSantis 21%, Haley 19% and Ramaswamy 7%.

Now, at first blush those numbers would indicate that Donald Trump is much beloved, right? In any normal race, yes, that would be the takeaway. But not this one. Trump is a one-term president, who is coming back for a second term. The last time that happened was when Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland was ousted by Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and then returned to run against Harrison in 1892, this time beating him. It should be noted that neither Cleveland nor Harrison were charismatic cult leaders, but otherwise, you can see the similarity in the situations. In any event, our point here is Trump’s level of support, which is 51% yes. But flip it around, and the other three figures together and you get 47%. And that 47% does not support Trump to become president again.

Even if they don’t like Twitler I think most of them will end up voting for him anyway. Never underestimate party loyalty and a lot of them want their party to win

I also think they are better at rallying together to achieve their goals no matter how shitty they are for citizens pic.twitter.com/rumFVX6peJ

— C H Λ M Ξ L Ξ O N (@Chameleon876) January 16, 2024

A lot of truth in all of that. And here’s “blowin’ with the wind” Haley, who wants you to know that people are desperate for change and don’t want Trump at the helm — but she’d vote for him over Biden in a New York minute.

Q: Do you support the views of voters who can’t support Donald Trump because of his chaos and extremism?

Haley: I mean look, I would vote for Donald Trump if he’s the nominee any day of the week pic.twitter.com/mo1qLTteCB

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 15, 2024

With 2/3 saying they’d still vote Trump if convicted of a felony, there should have been follow-ups:

1. WHICH convictions would stop you from voting for Trump?

2. Would you still vote for him if found guilty of raping a 13-yr-old girl?

3. How about if it were YOUR 13-yr-old?

— Not Donald (@knot_donald) January 16, 2024

The Republican party is deeply divided. Although I have no doubt but that they will rally behind Trump when they’ve decided that the also rans aren’t going to go anywhere. Speaking of which, Ramaswamy threw in the towel.

Vivek Ramaswamy announces he's suspending his presidential campaign because "there's no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don't want to see happen in this country."

Well, that much is true. pic.twitter.com/xYn4juiSDN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2024

It’s now down to three. This will be curious to watch whether Meatball or Birdbrain fold next. The New Hampshire primary is the 23rd of this month, then on to South Carolina. It will be interesting to see if Trump’s the last one standing or if the matter is going to go on to the western states to be decided.

Now, one caveat: Trump has to be in court tomorrow morning. Running alongside his presidential campaign, he’s also involved in all these tacky lawsuit thingies. History is being made folks, you see it unfold in front of you daily. Political science students for centuries to come will be reading what you are reading here now.