A day after his uncharacteristically graceful acceptance of defeat in Iowa, Donald Trump was back to his old ways of lashing out at all and sundry as he arrived in New Hampshire on Tuesday in the hope of winning big in the February 9 primary and proving his growing band of detractors wrong.
If pundits thought that Trump would have learned a lesson or two and settle for a course correction, the New York billionaire was quick to offer more of the same as he shrugged off the Iowa loss and went after his rivals and the “dishonest media” just as he has been doing for months.
At a big rally of supporters in Milford, Trump was quick to slam the media for its embrace of Marco Rubio who finished as a strong third, projecting the young Florida Senator as a formidable challenger to himself and Ted Cruz.
“They make it sound like he (Rubio) had a victory and I didn’t. I came in second,” Trump said, adding: “He is a professional politician; he comes in third; I come in second.” He went on to mock the headlines dubbing it a poor show for him in Iowa, while hailing it as an “incredible night” for Rubio.
A dispatch in The New York Times went on to say that Rubio’s speech on Monday night carried echoes of Barack Obama’s address after his Iowa victory in 2008. “Both opened by saying how they had defied skeptics and political odds. Both insisted they would overcome cynicism. And both said they offered hope for healing and unity,” the dispatch noted.
New Hampshire is thought to be a happy hunting ground for Trump, where he has attracted huge crowds and pollsters expect him to win comfortably. A RealClearPolitics average of polls gives him a massive 21 per cent lead over Senator Cruz.
He almost grudgingly admitted that his decision to skip last week’s Republican debate, hosted by Fox News, could have cost him victory in Iowa, saying, “I think some people were disappointed that I didn’t go into the debate.”