Joe Biden has officially conceded that Donald Trump is the "clear front runner" in the GOP primary race.
And now he is using that to drive fundraising for his own campaign.
Talking Points…
- GOP Iowa Caucus
- Biden responds
- Analysis
Donald Trump was the big winner, earning just over 50% of the vote and locking down 20 delegates in the process.
Ron DeSantis did have a strong showing, winning 21.1% of the vote, far more than recent polling suggested, with Nikki Haley finishing third at 19.1% and Vivek Ramaswamy winning 7.7% of the vote. The candidate took down nine, eight, and three delegates, respectively.
After the caucus results were finalized, Ramaswamy withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Trump. He is irrelevant, however, because nobody will be able to touch Trump or come anywhere near him until this becomes a head-to-head race.
As soon as the results were announced, Biden's X account was firing off shots at the "extreme MAGA Republicans." He tried to use the Trump win in Iowa as a way to drive fundraising, posting:
"Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He's the clear front-runner on the other side at this point.
"But here's the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it'll be true tomorrow."
Biden then provided a link for his supporters to donate…
Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He’s the clear front runner on the other side at this point.
But here’s the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow.
So if you’re with us, chip…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 16, 2024
The fact of the matter is that Trump will continue to dominate this race as long as both Haley and DeSantis are in it. One has to drop out for this to be a competitive race, but I don't expect that to happen now.
DeSantis is reportedly already sending his team to South Carolina, more or less handing Haley New Hampshire, and, quite frankly, I don't blame him. He was invisible in New Hampshire during this cycle, and a week is not nearly enough time to make a dent. DeSantis far outperformed the polls, however, so the idea of him leaving his race now can be tossed.
DeSantis now needs to pilfer enough votes away from Haley in South Carolina to give him a solid second place heading into Super Tuesday, but I am still not sure if even that is enough to sway Haley to drop out until after Super Tuesday, and it surely is not enough if she is working to help Trump and making her case to be his VP.
