Biden Downplays Trump’s Caucus Win in Iowa

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he visits a coffee shop in Emmaus, Pa., on Jan. 12, 2024/ Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden downplayed the dominant caucus win in Iowa by former President Donald Trump, who is most likely to be his rival once again for the 2024 presidency.

“I don’t think Iowa means anything. The president got 50-some-thousand votes, the lowest number of votes anybody who’s won got,“ Mr. Biden said Thursday when he was asked what the Iowa results meant to him. ”You know, this idea that he’s going to run away—he can think anyway he wants, let him make that judgment.”

Another top Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), also suggested Wednesday that President Trump’s win in Iowa is not a big deal.

“Look, Joe Biden is going to be the next president as he’s the present president,” he told reporters. “If you look at the results of Iowa, I’m not sure 51 percent in a state where there was a turnout as small as it was is that a great thing for Donald Trump.”

However, for many Republicans, the Iowa caucus results show President Trump still has enormous sway with Republicans and is all but certain to get the nomination.

“It is clear to me—now more than ever—that Trump will be the Republican nominee and will eventually be the 47th President of the United States,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “The Republican Party is fortunate to have so many good candidates, but for all practical purposes this primary is over.”

More Republicans rallied behind Mr. Trump after the Iowa caucuses.

As the 45th president appears poised to win the Republican nomination for the third time, President Biden is in a relatively weak position, according to various polls. The RealClearPolitics (RCA) Poll Average, a combination of various polls, shows President Trump leads President Biden by 1.6 points in the 2024 general election.

Based on the RCA poll average he could be beaten by President Trump or Republican candidate Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor.

The only Republican candidate left who could lose to President Biden is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to the poll.

The Iowa Caucuses

President Trump scored a record-setting win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, with his rivals languishing far behind, a victory that affirmed his hold on the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

While devastating snowstorms resulted in the lowest turnout to the caucus in a quarter-century, participants endured life-threatening cold and dangerous driving conditions to meet in hundreds of schools, churches, and community centers across the state, delivering a roughly 30-point win for Trump over his closest rival that 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 former president finished with 51 percent of the vote, with 99 percent of the votes counted. Mr. DeSantis won just over 21 percent, edging Ms. Haley out at 19 percent.

Former President Donald Trump delivers a victory speech to supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

In his victory speech, President Trump delivered a message of unity.

“I really think this is time now for everybody in our country to come together,” he said. “We want to come together. Whether it’s Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, it would be so nice if we could come together and straighten out the world.”

He added, “I want to make that a very big part of our message. We’re going to come together.”

President Trump also praised his competitors for the nomination.

Of Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley, he said, “I think they both actually did very well. I really do.”

Joseph Lord and The Associated Press contributed to this report.