Fox News President Trump easily defeated his primary rivals in Monday’s Iowa Republican caucuses, in the first indication that those attempting to take on the president inside his own party stand a slim chance of making headway against the incumbent.
Iowa results showed the president winning with roughly 97 percent of the vote over former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh. The primary challengers walked away with about 1 percent each.
2020 PRIMER: HOW THE IOWA CAUCUSES WORK
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel congratulated the president, vowing he’ll carry the state in November.
Congratulations to the winner of the #IACaucus: @realDonaldTrump.
He won Iowa big in 2016, and he's going to carry it again in November!
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) February 4, 2020
While the focus has been on the Democratic contest Monday, Iowa Republicans also caucused at precincts throughout the state.
“The president has record support among Republican voters,” Republican National Committee spokesman Rick Gorka told Fox News on Monday. “I am not concerned with those embarked on a vanity project.”
When asked how long he would stay in the Republican primary race after his defeat Monday night, Walsh campaign spokesman Charles Siler told Fox News on Monday that the former congressman “is keeping every option open.”
“He sees President Trump as the greatest threat to our republic, the exact thing our Founders feared in a leader,” Siler said, noting that the campaign has spent the last three weeks in Iowa and Walsh has visited the state nearly every week since he announced his candidacy in August.
“We’re leaving straight from Iowa to go to New Hampshire,” Siler said, noting that Walsh has been campaigning in New Hampshire “regularly” since he announced his run.
“We know this is a long-shot effort, but it’s an important one for the nation,” Siler said. “That’s why it’s so distressing that the GOP has canceled so many primary elections and blocked challengers in many other states.”
The Weld campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.