(ReliableNews.org) – Former President Donald Trump won the Iowa Caucuses on January 15. He beat records with the win. But when a reporter asked President Joe Biden about it, he undermined the importance of his adversary’s win.
On January 18, Biden was leaving the White House to go to North Carolina when a reporter asked about Trump’s win. He responded, saying he didn’t think the win meant “anything” because the former president only “got 50-some-thousand votes, the lowest number of votes anybody who’s won got.”
Biden was referring to voter turnout. Only about 110,000 voters showed up to caucus. That was the lowest voter turnout in 24 years. In 2016, the last time the GOP had a competitive primary, almost 187,000 Republican voters turned out. In 2012, 121,000 voters participated and in 2008, 118,000 chose a candidate. The last time there were fewer voters was the year 2000 when only 86,440 participated.
What Biden didn’t mention was the subzero temperatures on the day of the caucuses. They were the coldest in history. The low was minus 13 and the windchill was as low as negative 40. Voters who did show up went to great lengths and braved icy roads to do their civic duty. One man even dressed up for the occasion, wearing an eclectic outfit to the caucus in Des Moines.
Thirty minutes after the caucusing started, Trump was projected as the winner. By the end of the day, the former president had won by the biggest margin in Iowa history. He beat Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by 30 points. The victory was so deafening that the governor dropped out of the presidential race just days later.
While Biden didn’t think the win meant anything, history begs to differ. It solidified Trump’s hold on the party. It also almost guaranteed the general election will be a repeat of 2020. This time, Trump is hoping that he will be able to win it, and Republicans also have their eyes on the Senate.
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