WASHINGTON: President
Joe Biden
has called former president
Donald Trump
the 'front runner' of the "other side" after his landslide victory in
Iowa caucuses
and termed the
2024 contest
as, "you and me" versus the "extreme
Maga Republicans
".
Notably, Trump's victory has solidified his position as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination to turn up against incumbent Joe Biden in a 2020 rematch.
"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," Joe Biden posted on X.
President Biden's remarks come after Trump won the Iowa caucus according to multiple projections.
According to the latest figures by CNN, with around 91 per cent of the results released, Trump is expected to win 20 of Iowa's 40 delegates.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are estimated to get eight and seven delegates, respectively.
Trump's victory in his first election since his unusual exit in 2020 has also laid to rest any lingering questions about his hold over the GOP and the potency of his right-wing message.
The focus of the race will now turn to New Hampshire, which will hold its first-in-the-nation Republican primary on January 23.
Notably, in Trump's 2016 presidential bid, he lost Iowa to then-candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) before going on to win New Hampshire and then the nomination, The Hill reported.
However, the road ahead is not easy for the former president as he continues to face substantial challenges to his campaign, including multiple criminal indictments and ongoing legal battles in courtrooms across the country.
In a handful of states, he even faces efforts to remove him from the ballot. Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump is 'disqualified' from competing in the race under the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause, finding that he violated his oath with his actions around January 6, 2021. Maine's Secretary of State also disqualified Trump under the 14th Amendment.
But Trump has framed his legal issues as "political attacks" arguing he is the victim of a "witch hunt" as he vies for another term.
"We're going to win the Iowa caucuses and then we're going to crush crooked Joe Biden next November," The Hill quoted Trump as saying in a rally in Iowa last month.
"I have polls that show me leading by tremendous amount in New Hampshire and a lot in Iowa. And nationwide, we're leading by almost 60 points. So, I'm not exactly worried about it," Trump said at Fox News town hall. "I think we're going to do very well in New Hampshire."
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