Republicans shift to New Hampshire after Trump's record Iowa win

Republican candidates trying to stop Donald Trump from being the party's White House nominee turned on Tuesday to New Hampshire, the next nominating contest, having lost to the former president by historic margins in Iowa.

Republican candidates trying to stop Donald Trump from being the party's White House nominee turned on Tuesday to New Hampshire, the next nominating contest, having lost to the former president by historic margins in Iowa. After trouncing his rivals in Iowa despite facing multiple criminal and civil cases, Trump, 77, appeared in a New York court on Tuesday to defend himself against charges he defamed writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her decades ago.

More than half of Iowa voters stuck with Trump, propelling him toward a potentially close and acrimonious rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden, 81, in the campaign for November's presidential election. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind Trump in second place in Iowa, pushing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, into third.

Trump has refused to debate his Republican rivals. Haley said on Tuesday she would skip any future party debates unless Trump attends, prompting ABC News to cancel a New Hampshire debate that was set to feature her and DeSantis. The debate, which had been scheduled for Thursday, was one of two such events scheduled ahead of the New England state's Jan. 23 contest.

"Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates," an ABC News spokesperson said. DeSantis had vowed to take the debate stage alone in the New England state if necessary. CNN did not respond to a request for comment about its Sunday night debate.

New Hampshire is well known for its relatively moderate, libertarian-minded brand of Republicanism. Moreover, its primary contest is "semi-open," meaning voters that are not registered with any party can participate, which can reward candidates perceived to be centrists. Trying to take advantage, Haley has campaigned heavily in New Hampshire while DeSantis bet heavily on Iowa.

Haley was to hold a rally in New Hampshire on Tuesday with the state governor, Chris Sununu, who has endorsed her. DeSantis is set to hold a town hall event after first stopping in Haley's home state, and Trump will deliver remarks at a country club. Trump is the only current or former U.S. president to be charged with criminal activity, but he won by an unprecedented margin for an Iowa Republican contest, strengthening his case that his nomination is a foregone conclusion.

His Iowa triumph showed his enduring popularity among Republicans even after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters and his 91 criminal charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election, retained classified documents and falsified records over hush money payments to a porn star. He won 51% support in the Midwestern farm state — a victory margin that far surpassed the previous record of 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.

DeSantis won 21% and Haley 19%, with 99% of the expected vote tallied, according to Edison Research. Following the results, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson ended their campaigns. Trump is hoping to fast-track the normally months-long Republican selection process with a series of convincing early primary wins to force out his rivals.

LEGAL WOES Biden used Trump's decisive Iowa win to frame the November election as a battle against "extreme MAGA Republicans," a reference to Trump's Make America Great Again slogan, and urged supporters to donate to his re-election effort as the 2024 presidential campaign officially got under way.

Trump claims falsely that his 2020 election loss to Biden was due to widespread fraud and has vowed, if elected again, to punish his political enemies and introduce new tariffs on imports. He has drawn criticism for increasingly authoritarian language, including comments that undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country." He has also vowed to end the Ukraine-Russia war in 24 hours, without saying how.

Trump has used his legal travails to fundraise and boost his support as he protests his innocence and says he is the victim of a "witch hunt." He holds a 37-percentage point lead among Republicans, according to the most recent nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll. Nearly two-thirds of Iowa caucus-goers embraced his false voter fraud claims, saying they did not think Biden legitimately beat Trump. More than 60% said Trump would be fit to serve as president even if convicted of a crime.

Trump faces four prosecutions, setting up the unprecedented prospect of a president being convicted or even serving from prison, with the courts almost certainly weighing in at every stage. "Absent a quick consolidation of the field, Trump appears to be on a fast track to the nomination," said Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based Republican strategist.

Still, while Trump's performance in Iowa showed his enduring popularity among Republican voters, it remains unclear how that will translate among a wider swath of the American public in November's general contest. Iowa and New Hampshire - which are majority white and less populated - historically played outsized roles in presidential campaigns given their early spots on the campaign calendar. But Democrats have shifted their focus to start with South Carolina, Nevada and other more densely populated and racially diverse states that they say better reflect the nation. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month found many Americans appear unenthusiastic about their choices so far with Trump and Biden in a dead heat.

Meanwhile, both DeSantis and Haley vowed to press ahead. DeSantis, whose campaign risks funding problems after failing to break through in Iowa, took aim at her on Tuesday.

"Can you name major achievements under her tenure?" he asked voters in Greenville, South Carolina. "She hasn't been able to do it." Asked about DeSantis' visit to her home state, Haley told CNN: "He is not my concern. I'm going after Trump."

Read Reuters' full U.S. election coverage here:

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)