The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party slammed the media on Monday night after they rushed to declare former President Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 Iowa caucuses before many people even had the chance to vote.
Multiple news organizations — including the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and more — called the race for Trump just minutes after doors closed at caucus locations throughout 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 lowans 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 the other Republican candidates who said that they got notifications on their phones stating that Trump had won before they even had the chance to 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.”
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National Review Senior Writer Dan McLaughlin noted that Iowa was not a winner-take-all state and 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 wrote: “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 posting on X: “We haven’t even voted yet. I sent this tweet while I was listening to people give their speeches. Unreal.”
Political consultant Jason Johnson wrote on X: “Fox called the race while 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?”