Donald Trump’s near third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses Monday night left the outspoken Republican presidential candidate open to mocking in his home state of New York, as well as in the national media.
The New York Daily News proclaimed that Trump was a “dead clown walking” who sounded “like [a] beaten man” in his measured speech congratulating Ted Cruz on his victory.
The New York Post declared Trump to be “Cruz-ified” and left humbled by runner-up status.
Meanwhile, The Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in Iowa, focused on Cruz’s victory:
Trump had bashed Cruz for weeks leading up to Monday’s caucuses, going after his Canadian birth and accusing him of being a liar while Cruz for a time in January knocked Trump over his “New York values.”
Cruz took 27.7 percent in Iowa, followed by Trump, at 24.3 percent, and Marco Rubio, at 23.1 percent. Cruz and Rubio outperformed opinion polls, while Trump came in several points below most polls heading into Monday.
Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin on Tuesday labeled Trump “just another loser” in The Washington Post, while Chris Cillizza commented that with the loss, “the Trump balloon has sprung a leak.”
Under the headline, “In Iowa, the Emperor has no clothes,” U.S. News & World Report’s Emily Arrowood wrote that “the self-proclaimed consummate winner, is now officially a loser.”
And the conservative National Review, which put out an “Against Trump” issue last month, said in an editorial Tuesday that “having been beaten, Trump no longer looks unbeatable.”