News organizations faced intense criticism Monday night for projecting the winner of the Iowa caucuses before voting even began in many areas across the state.
Multiple news organizations — including the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and more — called the race for former President Donald Trump just minutes after doors closed at caucus locations throughout the state.
Trump secured roughly half of the vote with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — who finished second and third respectively — splitting the remaining votes.
“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 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?”
Physician Pradheep J. Shanker posted: “@FoxNews should be embarrassed. Let the caucus votes close before you make a call. That is not too much to ask. And everyone knows Trump is going to win. This isn’t some great journalistic achievement.”
Popular conservative X account AG wrote: “Completely irresponsible for networks to call an election before most people have voted, but consistent with the decision to allow polling to drive coverage throughout the primary.”
DeSantis campaign spokesperson Bryan Griffin wrote: “At the site where @RonDeSantis was speaking in Dubuque, people were still waiting to be checked in when the media started making calls. No one had even voted. It’s extremely disrespectful to the voters.”
Podcast host Steve Deace wrote on X: “People are telling me phones got Fox News alerts Trump won before they even voted. Just criminal levels of voter suppression. That network is a freaking cancer. With ‘friends’ like Fox, who needs CNN?”