Mere hours after Monday’s midnight celebration in Des Moines after the reddening of a frozen Iowa, Republican candidate-presumptive Donald Trump left the snows behind for a Tuesday morning appearance in Manhattan federal court.
As predicted, Mr Trump was the overwhelming first choice among Iowans in what was the most bitterly cold caucus night on electoral record. The 110,000 voters who took part represent just 15 per cent of all registered Republicans in the state. A combination of the -21 degree temperatures and, perhaps, a sense that the result was inevitable, made for low overall voting numbers. Nonetheless, Mr Trump was the first choice in 98 out of the 99 counties – and Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, edged the liberal Johnson County by just one vote.
The former president was in Manhattan by choice and shook his head in disgust as the judge, Lewis Kaplan, reminded prospective jurors that a previous jury had decided that the former president had abused columnist and author E Jean Carroll in the 1990s. The purpose of this trial is to establish compensation costs, if any, Mr Trump should make for defamatory comments he made about Ms Carroll in 2019. Judge Kaplan also rejected a request by Mr Trump’s legal team that the trial be deferred until Thursday to allow him to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral, prompting a thundery exchange.
The radical switch from campaign podium to courtroom was a reminder of the high-wire act Mr Trump is attempting in his bid to win back the White House while dealing with myriad criminal charges and indictments. President Joe Biden responded to word of his rival’s sweep of Iowa as an inevitable signal to an existential electoral battle. “Here’s the thing: this election was always going to be me and you versus extreme Maga Republicans,” he posted on social media.
“It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow.”
[ Trump wins overwhelming victory in race to be candidate for US presidentOpens in new window ]
[ Keith Duggan: Republican race for White House begins with 13 strangers in a roomOpens in new window ]
Ms Haley swapped the snows of Iowa for the snows of New Hampshire while Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, concentrates on campaigning in South Carolina. At her first coffee-shop gathering in Manchester on Tuesday morning, Ms Haley was asked about Mr Trump’s court appearance.
“I have not paid attention to his cases, and I am not a lawyer,” she said.
“You got investigations on Trump and Biden. Look, if he is found guilty, he needs to pay the price. If he is not found guilty, then we will move forward. What I will tell you is that I am focused on the economy, the border, education and getting our country back on track. We can’t continue to be in chaos. We have a country to save.”
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