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Trump Fails to Gain Support of Conservative Evangelicals

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Feb 03, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump placed second after the results from the Iowa caucuses came in Monday night. Though Trump is still in the thick of the presidential race, some commentators are suggesting that his placing second and his inability to gain the support of the evangelical voters he has been so intent on courting, shows that his campaign is faltering in some respects.

According to a report from Townhall, Trump did not win big with Iowa conservative evangelical voters. Cruz gained most support from very conservative voters--44 percent, while Trump gained 21 percent, and Rubio gained 15 percent. It should also be noted that moderately conservative voters favored Rubio over Cruz and Trump.

Trump also conducted his campaign in Iowa very differently from Rubio and Cruz.

While the two senators visited many towns in the state, made speeches, had townhall meetings, and stayed in the state for much of the time leading up to the caucuses, Trump mostly flew in to make a speech, then flew back home.

Trump is popular for his “telling it like it is” quality and for his tough stance on immigration, but it was not enough to propel him into first place in Iowa and not enough to gain the support of the majority of evangelical voters. 

In fact, Matt Vespa from Townhall notes, “Trump’s lead in the latest slate of polls, coupled with his second place finish, could suggest that the billionaire magnate had little to no ground game. Someone who is familiar with elections told Townhall last night, Trump wasn’t even listed in the top five on the Google searches for how to caucus in Iowa.”

Publication date: February 3, 2016