On January 15th, Donald Trump won the 2024 Iowa Caucus for the Republican Presidential nomination by more percentage points than any candidate in history during a contested primary. Trump took home more than 51 percent of the vote. At the same time, the establishment favorites, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley proceeded to finish close together in a distant 2nd and 3rd place finish. While some DeSantis supporters and neoconservatives baselessly hoped that he would somehow pull an upset that would shock the political world, DeSantis barely squeaked by Haley, who never even made Iowa a priority in her campaign for the presidency thus far.
On social media, many expressed the sentiments that while this was just the first state contest during the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary, it was all but over already. Pundits such as Ben Shapiro, Tomi Lahren, and Steve Cortes, all of whom had openly supported Ron DeSantis as the GOP’s nominee, stated that it was time for a dose of reality in admitting that Donald Trump was going to be the primary winner. While these statements are too little too late for those of us in the Trump camp, it is one of the most significant victories for Trump thus far that even some of his most vocal and ardent detractors are already giving in to saying he is the man for the GOP just one state into the competition.
As much as hate has run rampant during this primary, many still hoped that after a disappointing performance, DeSantis and Ramaswamy might see the writing on the wall and drop out to get behind Trump so he can resoundingly defeat Nikki Haley in New Hampshire and her home state of South Carolina.
On Monday night into Tuesday evening, Vivek made the entirety of his rallying behind Trump about uniting, as President Trump had done the night of his victory in the Iowa Caucuses. Both men looked poised to take the country back by fighting back the deep state, getting back at the weaponization of the federal government and judicial systems that were attacking conservatives such as Trump, and uniting as a party to take down Joe Biden in 2024.
Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, mercifully ended his campaign on January 21st, announcing he would be dropping out and endorsing Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, citing how he was much better he was than Biden, and that the party needed to prevent Nikki Haley from being the GOP nominee.
While Haley has touted the old neoconservative platforms of the old guard of the GOP, Trump’s messaging told the entire story of how a strategy of populist nationalism was the only path forward for the Republican Party.
Trump’s victory was one of retribution and rejection towards the old Republican Party and an embrace of a new brand of firebrand conservatism that the country needs. The only path forward for the party is to rally around the only man who can both unite conservatives and weed out the weaklings the GOP needs to get rid of while defeating the most authoritarian tyrant the country has witnessed when he beats Joe Biden in November.
The future is now, and the future is America First.
