(Headline USA) Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker claimed perplexingly that former President Donald Trump’s overwhelming victory in the Iowa caucuses on Monday night shows his “weakness.”
Pritzker, a Biden campaign surrogate, made the comment on MSNBC while the votes from the Republican caucus were still being counted. He predicted that Trump’s popularity among Republican voters could ultimately be good for the Democratic Party, Mediaite reported.
“It tells you the weakness of Donald Trump and also the opportunity for Democrats, because in the end, look, if the base doesn’t turn out for Donald Trump in the general election enthusiastically, and Democrats turn out its base [sic], this is all about, you know, independents, and independents don’t like Donald Trump,” he claimed.
“So, I think we’re in a pretty good place tonight to see what’s happening on the Republican side,” he added.
Several recent polls show Trump beating incumbent President Joe Biden among independent and swing state voters.
In fact, one poll from Bloomberg found Trump beating Biden in seven of the most competitive swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Pritzker’s comments reflected the Biden campaign’s broader strategy, which has been to make the 2024 election a referendum on “MAGA extremism.”
Pritzker explained to MSNBC that it is “the MAGA Republican Party that Democrats are running against.”
For his part, Biden issued a similar warning on Monday night, saying, “Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He’s the clear front runner on the other side at this point,” he tweeted. “But here’s the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow.”
Looks like Donald Trump just won Iowa. He’s the clear front runner on the other side at this point.
But here’s the thing: this election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow.
So if you’re with us, chip…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 16, 2024
Trump carried more than 50% of the vote in Iowa, in what was touted by most media outlets as a historic landslide victory.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second at around 20%, and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley trailed slightly behind DeSantis in third.
