DES MOINES, Iowa – Donald Trump has expressed confidence that he will do “very well” in Monday night's Iowa caucuses, the start of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination calendar.
But the former president is not prepared to predict whether he will exceed 50%.
As he left his hotel in Des Moines on Sunday, Trump was asked by Fox News' James Levinson if he could win more than 50% of the vote in the caucuses.
Trump responded, “I don't know, but I think we're doing very well.” The former president is the overwhelming frontrunner in the latest Iowa polls and national polls for the Republican presidential nomination, aiming for a third consecutive White House election.
What the final polls before Monday's Iowa Republican presidential caucuses show
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Simpson College on Sunday, January 14, 2024 in Indianola, Iowa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Trump has received more than 50% support in Iowa in numerous polls conducted over the past month. And in the final Des Moines Register/Mediacom/NBC News poll of Republican candidates released Saturday night, he had an approval rating of 48%. His closest rivals, former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, had 20% and 16% in the new poll.
The high-profile poll, conducted by longtime pollster Ann Selzer, has a reputation for accuracy in past Republican presidential caucuses and is considered by many to be the gold standard for Iowa polls. ing.
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DeSantis campaign manager James Usmayer appeared on Fox News' “America's Newsroom” on Sunday and said, “We have high expectations for Mr. Trump…He has to perform. If Mr. If less than half of the votes are cast, there will be more people voting against Trump than voting for him.” I think that will lead to future destruction. ”
And Haley said in an interview on the same show that people will be watching to see if President Trump's approval rating goes “below 50%.”
David Kochel, a longtime Republican strategist and veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns and statewide races in Iowa, told Fox News, “There are two campaigns in Iowa right now. It's being done,” he said.
“One is Trump vs. his expectations, and the other is Haley vs. DeSantis, who gets the right to go one-on-one with Trump,” said Kochel, who remains neutral in the Republican presidential caucus. It pointed out.
Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but the four indictments, including charges that he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, are among Republican voters. It only increased Trump's support.
Haley appears to be doing well at Iowa State despite media expectations
But Trump and his campaign are trying to downplay the high expectations he faces in Iowa.
“No one has won the Iowa caucuses by more than 12 percentage points,” Chris Lacivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told Fox News Digital on Saturday. I think the polls are a little rich.
President Trump spoke with reporters Sunday and took aim at media attention surrounding Iowa's hopes.
“Right now it looks like it's about 50%. That's not the issue,” Trump insisted. “I think they're doing it to have high expectations. So if they end up with 49%, that's about 25 points more than the other players got. You could say he was a failure.You could say it was a failure.''A failure. You know about fake news. ”
Mr. Trump is banking on expectations, while also calling on his supporters to attend the caucuses.
“Tomorrow, January 15th, I want every single one of you to get out of your house. Everyone get out. Just get out and vote,” President Trump told his supporters at a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday. Ta.
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At a rally in Iowa earlier this month, Trump touted to his supporters, “We're 30 to 40 points ahead.”
But he added, “The reason the poll numbers are scary is because we have a huge lead.”
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Terrace View Event Center on Friday, January 5, 2024 in Sioux Center, Iowa. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Trump took aim at potential complacency among his supporters, insisting: “We're not taking any risks.” “The biggest risk is, you know, he's winning by a huge margin, darling. Let's stay home and watch TV. Let's watch this great victory. And enough It's not pretty if people do that. But we're not going to let that happen. ”
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Trump's campaign in Iowa shifted into gear a few weeks ago, with the former president increasing the pace of his visits in the state. High-profile surrogates also parachuted into Iowa to campaign on behalf of the former president. Additionally, the campaign trained approximately 2,000 caucus captains in precincts across the state.
“Their only job is to run the individual caucuses that are held and ensure that the list of targeted voters who support President Trump appears,” Lacivita stressed.
Donald Trump 2024 Campaign Iowa Headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa, January 14, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“We've built our work in more than 1,800 caucus locations, neighborhood by neighborhood, with dedicated volunteers who know their neighborhoods and know who's caucusing in their area. We will follow up with them so they can vote,” he said. He said. “We've been focused and focused on people, and we think that's going to pay off in a big way.”
The Trump campaign's ground campaign in Iowa is several steps ahead of its 2016 effort, which narrowly lost to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the caucuses.
“Ted Cruz won in 2016 because he had a great ground game,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufman, who remains neutral in the Republican nomination race, told Fox News.
“Their ground game has stepped up tremendously,” Kaufman said, referring to Trump's 2024 campaign.
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
