On Monday night, reporting amid the Iowa caucuses that turned out to be a debacle, an MSNBC reporter reported on what a disastrous night it was for the Biden campaign, but as he did, a man and a woman apparently working for MSNBC and caught on a hot mic were discussing the night when the man commented, “God, what an f***ing disaster.”
The reporter was in the middle of his spiel, which started like this:
But if we talk about what we can maybe call the “Joni Ernst factor,” how much is (sic) the impeachment proceedings in Washington weighing on the mindset of these caucus-goers, what the Biden campaign has actually said is that they had some of their best fund-raising numbers in January as his name was being repeated often, but we also need to talk about the Mike Bloomberg factor, which is the fact that he’s now waiting in the wings —
At that point, a male voice could be heard in the background saying, “God, what an f***ing disaster.”
The reporter continued, “ — waiting for Super Tuesday, potentially to step in if Biden is not seen as as strong a candidate as he entered this race; the fundraising could really shrink in a hurry for the former vice-president with a poor showing here, and that’s the biggest concern, the fundraising more than the results here.”
As The Daily Wire noted, Dana Remus, general counsel for the Biden campaign, sent a letter to the Iowa Democratic Party demanding answers for what happened at the caucuses, writing:
I write on behalf of the Biden for President Campaign regarding the considerable flaws in tonight’s Iowa Caucus reporting system, The app that was intended to relay Caucus results to the Party failed; the Party’s back-up telephonic reporting system likewise has failed. Now, we understand that Caucus Chairs are attempting to — and, in many cases, failing to — report results telephonically to the Party. These acute failures are concurring statewide …
We appreciate that you plan to brief the campaigns momentarily on these issues, and we plan to participate. However, we believe that the campaigns deserve full explanations and relevant information regarding the methods of quality control you are employing, and an opportunity to respond, before any official results are released. We look forward to hearing from you promptly.
The Daily Wire also reported, “Iowa Democrats are blaming reporting inconsistencies and tabulation errors linked to coding problems inside the application, which left organizers confused and unable to report precinct results to the central party, and Democratic candidates all declaring victory in the first-in-the-nation presidential contest. ‘While our plan is to release results as soon as possible today, our ultimate goal is to ensure that the integrity and accuracy of the process continues to be upheld,’ the Iowa Democratic Party said in a statement released early Tuesday morning.”
Michael Bloomberg, sensing the disarray, committed to spending even more money on his campaign. The New York Times reported, “Encouraged by the murky outcome, Mr. Bloomberg authorized his campaign team to double his spending on television commercials in every market where he is currently advertising and expand his campaign’s field staff to more than two thousand people, strategists involved in the conversations said.”
Video of hot mic moment below:
MSNBC host last night on a hot mic regarding Democrats' Iowa caucuses: “What an F’ing distaster”
pic.twitter.com/idSaQWEJq0— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) February 4, 2020