Former President Donald Trump scored a record-setting win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday with his closest rivals languishing far behind. It was not immediately clear who would emerge as the second-place finisher, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Donald Trump is 32,663 votes ahead of Florida Gov. Ron Desantis and 35,029 votes ahead of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Caucus voters endured life-threatening cold and dangerous driving conditions to participate in meetings that unfolded in hundreds of schools, churches, and community centers across the state.
Trump was already looking ahead to a potential general election matchup against President Joe Biden as he addressed hundreds of cheering supporters at a caucus site at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa.
Trump said of Biden: “He is destroying our country, we were a great nation three years ago and today people are laughing at us. We want to come together, whether it’s Republican or Democrat or liberal or conservative.”
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley addressing voters at a caucus site- “If you want to move forward with no more vendettas, if you want to move forward with a sense of hope, join us in this caucus,” she said. “I ask for your vote, and I promise you I will make sure every day I focus on what it takes to make you proud.”
Biden’s team, meanwhile, announced that he and the Democratic National Committee raised more than $97 million in the last quarter of 2023 and finished the year with $117 million in the bank, an effort to demonstrate how Biden is preparing for the possible rematch while Trump is still competing in the primary.