The first contest has been decided in the race for the Republican nomination. But some are calling foul.
And this Iowa curveball no one is talking about could come back to bite the GOP.
The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party criticized the media on Monday night for prematurely declaring former President Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 Iowa caucuses before many people had a chance to vote.
Several news organizations, including the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and others, called the race for Trump minutes after the doors closed at caucus sites across the state.
“Media outlets calling the results of the 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus less than half an hour after precinct caucuses had been called to order – before the overwhelming majority of Iowans had even cast their ballot — was highly disappointing and concerning,” said Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann.
“One of the key differences between the Iowa Caucus and a standard primary election is that Iowans have the chance to listen to presidential candidates or their surrogates and deliberate to make an informed decision,” he continued.
“There was no need to rush one of the most transparent, grassroots democratic processes in the country.”
The Des Moines Register spoke with supporters of other Republican candidates who stated they received notifications on their phones that Trump had won before they could vote or finish listening to the speeches.
“Absolutely outrageous that the media would participate in election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote,” said DeSantis campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo.
“The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet.”
National Review Senior Writer Dan McLaughlin pointed out that Iowa was not a winner-take-all state, so “the margins actually affect delegate allocations.”
“It’s indefensible to declare a winner in that situation before all votes are cast,” he said.
Semafor political reporter David Weigel wrote: “The very very early results show Trump winning big, but the early network call is a little questionable. People are still at caucus sites, and they have phones — how many people see the call and bail?”
Political reporter Ben Jacobs tweeted, “We haven’t even begun speeches at the caucus that I am attending, and they have already called the state for Donald Trump.”
Washington Post reporter Michael Scherer noted: “AP has a policy not to call ‘the winner of a race before all the polls in a jurisdiction are scheduled to close.’ Tonight AP/CNN/Etc. called the race after the caucus doors closed, but BEFORE all votes were cast. People could see on their phones that Trump won before voting.”
Breitbart News columnist John Nolte wrote: “Why are the media calling an election while people are still voting?”
Executive producer Aaron McIntire responded to the news by writing on X: “We haven’t even voted yet. I sent this tweet while I was listening to people give their speeches. Unreal.”
Political strategist Jason Johnson wrote on X that “Fox called the race when the caucus I was monitoring was still listening to speakers. Suddenly, everyone started looking at their phones…reading the ‘breaking news.’ Remarkable.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution political columnist Patricia Murphy wrote: “I’m sorry- this is crazy to call it at 7:40. Nobody in Boone has even voted yet. Why would they stay if they saw this?”
Obviously, it wouldn’t have changed who won the night. Trump ended up taking in a little over 50 percent of the vote.
But it shouldn’t be the business of the media to be the “decider” on election night. It should be the vote counters.
Stay tuned to the Conservative Column.
