Reacting to his predecessor Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the Iowa presidential caucuses, US President Joe Biden called him the “clear front runner” of the “other side” and said the election was always going to be “you and me vs extreme MAGA Republicans”. Trump’s victory in the caucuses has strengthened his position as the Republican frontrunner and increased the chances of a 2020 rematch between the two arch-rivals.

“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 posted on X.

Meanwhile, Iowa Democrats did not vote on Monday for their presidential nominees because the party has reshuffled its nominating calendar to put states with more diverse populations ahead of Iowa this year. They will cast their ballots by mail, with the results to be released in March. Biden largely dominates the Democrat camp in the upcoming presidential elections.

According to CNN polls, Trump is set to win 20 of Iowa’s 40 delegates, whereas Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are estimated to get eight and seven delegates, respectively. Trump also smashed the record for a contested Iowa Republican caucus with a margin of victory exceeding Bob Dole’s nearly 13-percentage-point victory in 1988.

The results left Trump with a tighter grip on the GOP nomination, though it could take several more months for anyone to formally become the party’s standard bearer. The magnitude of Trump’s victory, however, posed significant questions for both DeSantis and Haley. 

“We want to come together, whether it’s Republican or Democrat or liberal or conservative,” he said. “We’re going to come together. It’s going to happen soon.”

The Republican contest will now move to New Hampshire, which will hold the first-in-the-nation primary on January 23. A shrinking field will compete there after conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign after a disappointing fourth-place finish and endorsed Trump.

The feeling of the high stakes of the caucuses was palpable in the state as people raved life-threatening temperatures to gather at more than 1,600 schools, community centers and other sites for the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus. The wind chill in parts of the state had been forecast to reach minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 43 degrees Celsius) on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

(with inputs from agencies)

ALSO READ | US: Trump off to strong start for 2024 polls after record win in Iowa’s presidential caucuses