Donald Trump won the Republican primary in New Hampshire this week and the Republican caucuses in Iowa last week — and soon he will clinch the Republican presidential nomination  because he appeals to the part of America most people want to overlook. 

His demographic consists of the Middle Americans. They’re an easy group to ignore. 

They aren’t the conservative elites in Washington or the intellectuals at think tanks and universities. They don’t spend their days crafting intricate policies or writing philosophical musings on the decay of society.

Instead, they’re the honest people living simple lives in rural America. They’re farmers and truckers, working hard and quietly keeping America running. They have a strong moral sense not because they studied great thinkers of the past, but because they believe in the traditional Christianity that raised them.

They’re not flashy or exciting, and while they have strong political beliefs, they are rarely loud about them. For years their only politicians were people who shared most of their beliefs but didn’t seem interested in them as people.

Liberal commentators and Christian conservatives alike can’t understand why, with so many other options, Americans would still vote for Trump. The fact of the matter is, none of the other candidates have allied themselves with this common man in the same way as Trump.

The liberal media is partly responsible for this alliance. Every time Trump has been attacked or demonized, his supporters have been attacked with him. Biden, for example, has repeatedly blamed “MAGA Republicans” for threatening democracy.

The “MAGA Republicans” — also known as average Americans sick of liberal policies — are tired of it. They want someone who will fight for them as viciously as they are being attacked, and they have found one in Trump. Any attack on Trump is an attack on Middle America (and vice versa), and thus the alliance grows stronger.

Still, credible options existed heading into the Iowa caucus.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida seemed like the perfect alternative. He’s proven himself by reopening his state during the COVID-19 pandemic and his willingness to fight large corporations like Disney. Michael Knowles recently described him as “Trump without the baggage” — he has all of Trump’s best policies without the glaring moral flaws.

The Iowa caucus revealed Middle Americans don’t want someone who’s Trump-like; they want the person who has heard and seen them for eight years and who has withstood the resulting persecution. DeSantis admitted as much when he suspended his presidential campaign Jan. 21.

Nikki Haley of South Carolina doesn’t have a real shot at Middle America either. She’s primarily attracting the never-Trump vote and the establishment conservatives, and although she can boast foreign policy experience thanks to her time as a U.N. ambassador, it’s not enough to sway Trump’s supporters.

To win the nomination, Haley will need to win more votes from every alternate branch of conservatism than Trump will win from his Middle America demographic, and that’s not likely to happen.

Even on the East Coast, Trump’s demographic was strong enough to secure a win in the New Hampshire primary. Haley relied on never-Trumpers, neoconservatives, and independents in the hopes that they would outnumber Trump’s supporters, but his Middle America voters beat Haley 54% to 43%, according to a CBS New Hampshire Exit Poll, proving that his appeal applies to more than Midwestern voters.

Trump appeals to these people because he fights for them. Perhaps it’s absurd that a billionaire business tycoon would gain the following of millions of middle- and lower-class Americans, but he’s won their loyalty in a way no one else can.

It’s time for other politicians to notice. Now that these people have found their voice, they won’t go away. There may be plenty of primaries left to go, but Trump has effectively won the nomination.