Donald Trump took the podium in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was flanked by staff and his sons, Eric and Don. Jr. After his historic win in the Iowa caucuses, the former president delivered remarks to supporters. If it holds, Trump will clinch over 50 percent of the vote and win this primary contest by the largest margin of victory ever. The late Bob Dole had the current record in 1988 when he thrashed Pat Robertson by 12.8 points. Trump is going to win Iowa by 20 or more.
Trump vowed we would all come together while crediting his competition, saying they’re all “very smart, very capable” opponents. While he trashed him on Truth Social, Trump said Vivek Ramaswamy did well, coming into this state with virtually zero percent of the vote, but might end up with eight at the end of the night.
Trump: "If the fake news would become real and honest news, 90% of our problems in this country would be solved." pic.twitter.com/ItQ3VVFPCA
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 16, 2024
Trump: "We're gonna have to have a deportation level that we haven't seen in this country for a long time." pic.twitter.com/cxdZXhOOfp
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 16, 2024
He thanked his wife, Melania, his late mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs, and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. Of course, he thanks his family, his sons, and Kari Lake, who he hopes will make a great senator next year.
Of course, he had to take a swipe at Joe Biden:
Trump starts off by saying, "I don't want to be overly rough on the president..."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 16, 2024
"But I have to say that he is the worst president that we've had in the history of our country," he adds.
Trump concludes that Carter must be happy because he's "brilliant" in comparison to Biden.
Trump immediately went into his top agenda items, which overall center on rebuilding the country. He touched upon inflation, warning that nations who did not resolve this economic crisis did not survive, with Trump describing them as “dead” nations. He also touched upon stopping crime and curbing the illegal alien invasion, where he warned that prisons and mental hospitals in Latin American countries are emptying their wards and sending these folks here. Whether you believe it or not, it’s not far-fetched. We have people on the terror watch list slipping through.
In all, this was a tamer version of Donald Trump, but it still led to liberal media outlets cutting the feed or outright not broadcasting the speech. Of course, they would run away once immigration entered the mix.
MSNBC host @maddow says NBC and other mainstream news networks have decided not to show Trump’s victory speech. CNN had him on briefly but then cut away and replaced him with @jaketapper who says “caucus goers believe the lie.” pic.twitter.com/dnUHEB1wqH
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) January 16, 2024
And now 'news channel' CNN has cut away also. Shocker. https://t.co/wlaN8KlOCA
— johnny dollar (@johnnydollar01) January 16, 2024
CNN cut away from Trump's victory speech in Iowa after about 10 minutes. "Under my voice, you hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric," @jaketapper noted pic.twitter.com/toDB8SiSpo
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 16, 2024
***
The field also got smaller tonight. Vivek dropped out and endorsed Trump.