After former President Donald Trump’s dominating win in the Iowa Republican caucuses on Monday night, Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said there’s only one conclusion to be made for her party.
“I think this thing is over, and it’s time to accept that and put all of our push behind President Trump, because President Biden is bad for Wyoming and he’s bad for America,” Lummis told Cowboy State Daily in an interview on Wednesday.
Lummis formally endorsed Trump’s campaign last week. Her endorsement clinched full support for Trump among Wyoming’s delegation, which includes Republicans Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman.
Trump won the Iowa caucus in historic fashion with the largest margin of victory for any non-incumbent candidate in the modern era. He ran away with slightly more than half the vote at 51%, winning all but one county in Iowa. His nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, finished with 21% of the vote.
“It’s extremely significant, and the window of opportunity for other candidates has closed,” Lummis said of the results. “President Trump is going to be the Republican nominee.”
Trump’s win was possibly even more significant because it proved he hasn’t lost his base of support despite his challenges of the 2020 election results, the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, and his ongoing legal issues.
“Even though Trump is a disruptive person as a character, people are willing to accept that disruption because it’s not disruption to their personal lives,” Lummis said. “Whereas Biden has completely disrupted people’s personal lives.”
Entry polls reported by ABC News show 65% of Iowans who caucused Monday believe Trump won the 2020 election.
Not Perfect, But …
Historical political data has shown that the majority of Americans care more about how they are affected personally by a president rather than the personality of the president themselves.
Lummis said simple everyday costs, often referred to as “kitchen table issues” in political circles, is dominating American’s opinion of Biden and Trump.
“All of those things have sprung up during the Biden presidency,” Lummis said. “It’s just the everyday lives of everyday Americans are harder during the Biden years than they were during the Trump years.”
Lummis said Wyomingites are exhausted by Biden’s policies, and that immigration and inflation will be the biggest issues of the 2024 election. Economically, she believes Wyoming and the rest of the country were in a completely different position under Trump.
“People have just had it up to their foreheads, they’re sick of it,” Lummis said.
Inflation was actually very high before Biden took office as were illegal border crossings, but the president has failed to make any significant improvement to either issue taking office, Lummis said, adding that, “It’s just time to circle the wagons and help elect President Trump again.”
Biden Vs. Trump
Recent polls consistently show that Trump is beating Biden by a small margin on a national level. He’s also beating Biden in six battleground states, including by 11 points in Florida and 8 points in Georgia.
Biden’s favorability rating is at historic lows, with only 39% of voters expressing support, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average. But Trump isn’t much better at 40%.
On To New Hampshire
Although still favored to win, Trump is expected to have a more competitive caucus for the next primary in New Hampshire, where former United Nations Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is polling competitively.
“I think that President Trump’s support in New Hampshire will be softer than in Iowa, but after that when we go on to South Carolina and Nevada and the other states, I just think it’s going to be all Trump,” Lummis said.
Both Haley and DeSantis are showing better head-to-head polling numbers in a theoretical matchup with Biden than Trump, but all lead the president. A recent Wall Street Journal poll shows Haley defeating the president by 17 points.
But support for Trump has only increased among likely Republican voters in recent months, giving more credence to Lummis’ belief that the race is already over.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
