When Donald Trump appeared before supporters in Iowa Tuesday to deliver what the Washington Post dubbed an “un-Trump” concession speech, many were surprised.
I, in contrast, was skeptical of the new and gentler Donald. What others saw as grace in defeat, I saw as calculation. For the first time, instead of speaking his mind, Trump said the politic thing.
He was so much the politician that he spoke of buying a farm in Iowa, which should have set off shenanigan alarms in any political junkie.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Becoming a politician (read: Washington insider) would of course have skunked the deal for Trump, whose supporters expect shock and aw(ful) every time he opens his mouth.
It turns out they had nothing to worry about. The BBC reports this morning:
Presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for a new election in Iowa, accusing the Republican winner, Ted Cruz, of fraud.
Mr Trump pointed to the fact that during the caucus the Cruz campaign told voters rival Ben Carson planned to quit the race, which was not true.
The Cruz campaign apologised to Carson’s camp, saying it was a misunderstanding.
Mr Trump also cited Cruz leaflets that accused Iowans of “voting violations”.
[…]
“Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” Mr Trump said.
Earlier, he wrote on Twitter that Mr Cruz “illegally” won the caucus, but later deleted the tweet.
