With less than a month to the Iowa caucuses, NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks to Iowa Public Radio’s Clay Masters and pollster J. Ann Selzer about the state of the Republican presidential nominating contest.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
We are just weeks away from the Republican Iowa caucus, the official kickoff to the presidential primary season. In many years, Iowa provides a golden opportunity for a candidate to break out from the pack or establish him or herself with a surprise strong finish. This year is different.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Looking at the race in Iowa, former President Donald Trump up by 30 points now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Former President Donald Trump’s lead is growing in the state.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: Fifty-one percent of Iowa voters now support the former president as the nominee, while…
DETROW: In this race, the Republican field has only ever had one leader – former President Donald Trump. And that is despite the fact that he is currently facing 91 felony charges from state and federal jurisdictions and that he has not participated in a single Republican presidential debate so far. Republican candidates who are running against Trump to try and be the presidential nominee themselves, they’ve been reluctant to criticize or challenge the former president. Vivek Ramaswamy often goes out of his way, in fact, to praise Trump.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY: President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It’s a fact.
DETROW: Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, is the only candidate who has consistently criticized Trump and criticized his fellow candidates for not doing the same.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHRIS CHRISTIE: The fact is that when you go and you say the truth about somebody who is a dictator, a bully, who has taken shots at everybody, whether they’ve given him great service or not over time, who dares to…
Read the full article here