The results came less than a half hour after Iowa Republicans began caucusing across the state.
President Donald Trump on Monday coasted to victory in the 2020 Iowa Republican caucuses, quickly quashing his two lesser-known GOP rivals.
Trump won the Republican contest with 97 percent of the vote and 8 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press, while former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh achieved 1.4 percent of voters and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld garnered 1.2 percent.
The results came less than a half hour after Iowa Republicans began caucusing across the state at 7 p.m. CT.
The president’s first-place finish also came as the initial entrance polls from the Democratic caucuses showed a predictably close competition among the party’s four top-tier candidates: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Both Walsh and Weld weighed in on Twitter in the minutes after the GOP caucuses were called in Trump’s favor.
Walsh shared a message from his campaign manager, who claimed she was receiving reports that “at several precincts across Iowa, including precincts in Urbandale, voters wishing to speak on behalf of Joe Walsh are being turned away/told they may not speak.” Those developments, Walsh wrote, were “Very concerning.”
Weld, meanwhile, posted a photo appearing to show him addressing a crowd of caucus-goers. “The #IowaCaucuses are a great American tradition, and I am honored to participate,” he wrote.
The official Twitter account for Trump’s campaign was next to comment on its triumph, tweeting that “The Republican Party Has Never Been More United!”
Earlier Monday, various Trump surrogates including the president’s sons, senior administration officials and Republican members of Congress had descended upon Iowa to rally support in the hours before the caucuses.
Quint Forgey – Read more on politico.com
