Trump reportedly ditched a staffer in Iowa after he lost a single county by a measly vote
- Donald Trump was so mad that he didn't sweep all 99 counties that he and his team kept a staffer off his plane.
- According to the New York Times, the campaign didn't renew the staffer's contract either.
Former President Donald Trump and his top aides took the time to make sure a single staffer was left out of his Iowa caucus celebrations because despite pulling off a historic blowout they lost just a single county by one vote.
According to the New York Times, members of the Trump campaign piled into his private plane on caucus night as they continued the celebration from frigid Iowa to New York.
Left out was the political director who was responsible for Johnson County Iowa, the area home to the University of Iowa. Trump lost the county by just a single vote to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
Trump's campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, then informed the director the next morning that they would not renew her contract.
Johnson County is notoriously fickle for Republicans. Some conservatives in the area refer to it as "The People's Republic of Johnson County." Gov. Terry Branstad, a University of Iowa alum, who Trump later appointed to be ambassador to China, is the longest serving governor in American history. But even Branstad failed to win Johnson County in his 2014 general election rout — just like Trump, he went 98 out of 99. In 2016, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida only carried Johnson County.
It should be noted that Trump greatly improved his standing in Iowa. He narrowly lost the caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, carrying far less than half of the 99 counties. This time around, Trump easily shattered the record margin for a competitive Iowa caucus.
His victory is all the more remarkable considering that Trump barely campaigned compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who made it a point to visit every single county.
And yet, Trump was still angry that he didn't win them all, even if it was just by one vote.