Trump’s 'commanding victory in Iowa' shows election lies are 'working with voters': report

More than three years after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, former President Donald Trump has yet to admit that he lost to now-President Joe Biden in 2020. Trump maintains that the 2020 election was stolen from him — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked — as he seeks his party's 2024 presidential nomination.

In a report published by The Guardian on January 17, journalists Rachel Leingang and Sam Levine examine the role that the Big Lie played in the outcome of the 2024 Iowa Caucuses.

"Trump's commanding victory in Iowa on Monday, (January 15) and polling that shows the majority of Iowa Republicans do not believe the 2020 election was legitimate, illustrate how the former president has successfully transformed efforts to hold him accountable for anti-democratic actions into something to rally his supporters around."

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The reporters continue, "President Joe Biden has centered his early campaigning around the threat Trump poses to U.S. democracy. In turn, Trump has called Biden the 'true threat to democracy.' The role-reversal seems to be working with his supporters."

Trump won big in Iowa, picking up 51 percent of the vote and receiving more votes than rivals Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy combined. Ramaswamy has since exited the race and endorsed Trump, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson dropped out as well.

Leingang and Levine observe, "An NBC News entrance poll found a resounding 90 percent of Trump voters didn't believe Biden legitimately won the election in 2020. A much lower 40 percent of Ron DeSantis (supporters) don't believe Biden won. For Nikki Haley, just 19 percent held that belief…. Election lies are obviously not a new line of attack for Trump."

The reporters add, "When he lost in Iowa in 2016 to (Sen.) Ted Cruz, he said the Texas politician 'didn't win Iowa, he illegally stole it.' When Trump wins, though, his supporters believe the results are to be trusted."

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Read The Guardian's full report at this link.