The Democratic National Committee still doesn&#8217;t have a definite nominee, but they&#8217;ve already dropped a record $22 million on YouTube ads to start airing in September, mostly to potential voters who live in swing states.
That $22 million represents more than what the DNC has on hand, according to the latest totals from OpenSecrets, but the organization, which operates as the main fundraising arm for national Democratic candidates, did get an influx of cash from former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who turned over $18 million to the DNC after ending his campaign for president.
The money also represents the most significant expenditure of the 2020 Democratic presidential campaign so far.
&#8220;The DNC announced Monday it was reserving $22 million worth of YouTube ads across 14 states it deemed critical for defeating President Trump,&#8221; <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/dnc-spending-22-million-youtube-160800672.html">MSN reported Monday</a>. &#8220;The ads will start Sept. 1 in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and on Oct. 1 in 10 more swingable states. They&#8217;ll specifically be targeted at Democratic ZIP codes within those states and will push voters to show up on Election Day.&#8221;
The DNC is still well behind the Trump 2020 presidential campaign, though, which has been spending around $20 million per month so far this year, in Facebook ads alone. By comparison, former Vice President Joe Biden has spent just $7 million on Facebook and Google ads in March, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/491316-dnc-books-22-million-in-fall-youtube-ads">according to The Hill</a>.
Regardless, DNC chairman Tom Perez called the $22 million an &#8220;early investment.&#8221;
&#8220;Now more than ever, it’s critical that we reach voters where they are online — and this digital program will help us mobilize the voters we need to make Donald Trump a one-term president,” Perez said in a statement. “By making these kinds of historic, early investments in our battlegrounds and campaign infrastructure, the DNC is putting our eventual nominee and Democrats running at every level of the ballot in the strongest possible position to secure victory in November.&#8221;
The DNC has lagged behind the Republican National Committee in fundraising, generally. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/dnc-and-fundraising-affiliate-raised-128m-in-february-138473">Politico reports</a> that Democrats raked in around $12.8 million in February, giving it that $14 million cash on hand, but even though the RNC itself had a slower fundraising month, together the RNC and the Trump campaign raised &#8220;a combined $86 million in February,&#8221; giving the partnered organizations a considerable war chest.
Both parties have reportedly struggled with fundraising in March and now in April, largely because coronavirus-related lockdowns have all but prevented large-scale fundraising events and big money political donors aren&#8217;t used to giving online. The DNC has shifted to &#8220;virtual fundraisers&#8221; and even held a fundraiser over Zoom in late March, <a href="https://www.axios.com/dnc-fundraising-virtual-zoom-coronavirus-fe2454cd-2d28-425c-aff3-76a3fa8c75fb.html">according to Axios.</a>
Republicans officially ended in-person fundraisers two weeks ago, but had suspended fundraising operations well before then over coronavirus concerns.
The DNC hopes its fundraising luck will improve as soon as it has an official candidate. Right now, Democrats are still torn between Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who refuses to drop out of the presidential race because he believes he has a &#8220;narrow path&#8221; to victory if Biden fails to secure the 1,991 delegates, earning the nomination outright.

Joe Biden

DNC Drops $22 Million For YouTube Advertising In Swing States

Democratic National Committee

Republican National Committee (RNC)

The Democratic National Committee made the decision Thursday to move their mid-July convention back to August after weeks of insisting that the show would go on despite a coronavirus pandemic.
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/dnc-postponed-coronavirus/index.html">CNN reports</a> that the DNC made the decision sometime on Wednesday, after former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, suggested the DNC might want to consider a convention delay or, barring that, a digital or conference call option so that attendees could observe social distancing.
&#8220;The change represents a dramatic shift for the party, which has worked for months to host a convention in Milwaukee in mid-July. While officials began planning for contingencies in the face of the spreading coronavirus, many had remained hopeful that the virus would abate and allow Democrats to host the supremely important event,&#8221; CNN said.
The convention will now take place the weekend of August 17, just before the Republican National Convention, which is traditionally held the last weekend in August. The Democrats wanted their convention in July, so that they would be finished with their nomination process before the networks cut to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The Olympics have now been postponed until next year.
&#8220;In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,&#8221; the convention&#8217;s CEO said in a statement Thursday. &#8220;During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders.&#8221;
Biden expressed doubts about the convention on Wednesday night, during an appearance on &#8220;The Tonight Show&#8221; with Jimmy Fallon, telling the host that &#8220;I doubt whether the Democratic Convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July or early July. I think it&#8217;s gonna have to move into August.&#8221;
&#8220;We just have to be prepared for the alternative and the alternative, we don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s going to be unless we have a better sense of whether this curve is going to move down or up,&#8221; Biden continued, echoing sentiments he first aired on Tuesday, that it was &#8220;hard to envision&#8221; a traditional convention in the time of coronavirus.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a sense of urgency that doesn&#8217;t seemed &#8212; only until yesterday at his press conference, the President start to grasp the reality of what he&#8217;s facing in terms of the number of potential deaths, the number of people who are going to contract the virus,&#8221; Biden told Fallon, using the convention as an excuse to hit out at President Donald Trump. &#8220;We got a lot, a lot to do, and we&#8217;re not getting it done.&#8221;
Biden may have had an ulterior motive for pressing the DNC on the convention. As states across the country observe strict lockdown measures to reduce and prevent the spread of coronavirus, many states have postponed their Democratic primaries, leaving Biden with little hope of securing the nomination by winning a clear majority of delegates before a July convention date. With an additional month now on the calendar, states can better schedule their primaries, giving Biden, once again, hope of grabbing 1,991 delegates before crossing the finish line.
&nbsp;

Tom Perez

FINALLY: DNC Moves Democratic National Convention To August

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he does not believe there will be a Democratic National Convention in July even though the Democratic National Committee is insisting that the show will go on in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as planned.
&#8220;It&#8217;s hard to envision that,&#8221; Biden told MSNBC, referring to a full-scale arena convention with thousands of attendees. &#8220;Again, we should listen to the scientists.&#8221;
The Democratic National Convention was deliberately scheduled to take place before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo; that gathering is now postponed until at least 2021. Other major summer events, like the Wimbeldon tennis tournament, are now being canceled pending further information on the coronavirus outbreak.
Biden predicts a smaller scale operation, perhaps even some sort of &#8220;conference call&#8221; to announce the 2020 Democratic presidential contender.
&#8220;We ought to be able to do, we were able to do in the middle of a Civil War all the way through to World War II, have Democratic and Republican conventions and primaries and elections and still have public safety. And we&#8217;re able to do both. But the fact is it may have to be different,&#8221; he said.
The DNC says it has not yet made a call on whether or not it will hold its convention and that it is considering a range of &#8220;contingency plans&#8221; that could include a digital meetup.
The DNC will &#8220;balance protecting the health and well-being of convention attendees and our host city with our responsibility to deliver this historic and critical occasion,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/joe-biden-democratic-convention/index.html">the group told CNN</a> in response to Biden&#8217;s claims. &#8220;Providing an opportunity for our candidate to reaffirm our democratic values, unify the party and share his vision for a safer and stronger future for our country has never before felt more important.&#8221;
A second &#8220;convention aide&#8221; told CNN that, &#8220;Biden&#8217;s full remarks are in line with the convention&#8217;s contingency planning efforts that center on following the guidance of health officials and prioritizing the health and safety of all attendees and our host community.&#8221;
The Republican National Committee expressed similar sentiments last week. Their convention, though, takes place in late August, well after the Democratic National Convention.
Biden&#8217;s concerns might be better focused on the primary contest rather than the Democratic convention. With most coronavirus lockdowns now extended into May, many states have postponed their primary contests indefinitely, and it is possible that Biden won&#8217;t get enough delegates by the July 13th convention date to secure the nomination outright.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told Seth Meyers on Monday that he is staying in the race because he and his team see a &#8220;narrow path&#8221; to victory in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and it&#8217;s likely this &#8220;narrow path&#8221; relies entirely on a lack of primary contests between now and July 13th.
Biden, like other Democrats, is also concerned about November voting and believes that Congress should press for an electronic or universal vote-by-mail option so that voters don&#8217;t have to risk their health to cast a ballot. Republicans have, so far, opposed such measures, suggesting that Democrats would use widespread absentee voting as a way of upending the electoral process.
&#8220;This is about making sure that we&#8217;re able to conduct our democracy while we&#8217;re dealing with a pandemic,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;We can do both.&#8221;

Biden

Joe Biden: It’s ‘Hard To Envision’ A Democratic Convention Will Go On As Planned

2020 Election

The Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee both insisted Wednesday that their respective conventions remain on the calendar, despite concerns that the coronavirus lockdown could stretch well into the summer.
Chairman of the RNC convention, Michael Whatley, told supporters in a letter, issued over the weekend, that the convention committee &#8220;is firmly committed to moving forward&#8221; and that convention will happen in Charlotte, North Carolina, as planned.
&#8220;Whatley said the RNC is working closely with governments to determine whether any changes to the convention scheduled are needed,&#8221; local North Carolina outlet <a href="https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/nc-gop-chair-rnc-still-charlotte-despite-uncertainty-over-covid-19/QFCCZYTHSNHIRKOC7WQK5BGIZ4/">WSOC-TV said Wednesday</a>. &#8220;Whatley also said the state GOP convention slated for mid-May in Greenville is still on, but the schedule or venue could be changed depending on COVID-19 developments.&#8221;
It is possible to hold the convention via teleconference, the RNC admitted, but that&#8217;s not ideal, particularly given that President Donald Trump will accept his party&#8217;s nomination at the August event &#8212; a nomination that is both uncontested and, so far, unanimous.
Whatley added that the party has &#8220;not had any substantive conversations about alternative scenarios,&#8221; but that they are committed to preserving the health and safety of attendees, who typically include not just the President&#8217;s supporters and campaign staff, but also Republican bigwigs, and members of the mainstream media.
The RNC, though, is in a better position than the DNC. The Republicans hold their convention toward the end of August, but the Democrats are forging ahead with plans to hold a convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the start of July. The DNC&#8217;s convention committee, however, says they&#8217;re forging ahead.
“There are no plans to cancel the convention and we are not considering a rules change at this time,” Xochitl Hinojosa, the DNC&#8217;s communications director <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/23/dnc-insists-democratic-convention-on-144714">told Politico on Monday</a>. “Contingency planning is a routine part of preparations for any convention.”
Several major events slated to take place around the same time, including the 2020 Olympic Summer Games, have been either postponed or canceled, out of fear that, even if the threat of coronavirus has passed by then, massive gatherings could reignite the spread of the virus.
“Given what the experts are saying, delegates may end up on a phone call,&#8221; one DNC member told Politico. “Push 1 for Sanders, push 2 for Biden, push 3 for Bloomberg and push 8 for Yang, etc.”
Other sources close to the DNC tell Politico that it&#8217;s likely the convention is actually &#8220;up in the air,&#8221; but that no one is admitting it. The Democrats need to keep the convention on the calendar because, unlike Republicans, they have a contested primary and, at this point, neither former Vice President Joe Biden nor Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) may get enough votes to snag the nomination outright, leaving the DNC with a &#8220;brokered convention&#8221; scenario.
If more states cancel or postpone their primaries, the chances of a nominee-less party increases dramatically. The probability, at this point, is so high that neither Biden nor Sanders will secure the nod, that some Democrats are suggesting New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is handling the coronavirus outbreak in New York &#8212; widely considered the United States&#8217; largest coronavirus &#8220;hot zone&#8221; &#8212; could step in and grab the nomination.

Still On! RNC, DNC Insist Party Conventions Will Happen Despite Coronavirus Shutdown

Coronavirus

Continuing her crusade against the Democratic establishment, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) ripped into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and &#8220;their corporate media partners&#8221; Tuesday for changing the rules of the next Democratic presidential debate, shutting her out of the event.
&#8220;You hear a lot of talk. We just celebrated International Women&#8217;s Day and the progress that women are making around the world,&#8221; Gabbard said on &#8220;Fox News at Night,&#8221; as reported by <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/486827-gabbard-slams-the-dnc-and-their-corporate-media-partners-for-shutting-her-out">The Hill</a>. &#8220;But when it comes to actually making sure that — in this presidential primary — that the only woman candidate left in the race, the only woman of color, and the first female combat veteran ever to run for the presidency has a voice, the DNC and their corporate media partners say, &#8216;No thanks. Actually, that&#8217;s not what we want the American people to hear.&#8221;
Under previous DNC rules, Gabbard would have been allowed to participate in the next debate, given that she earned one delegate on Super Tuesday in American Samoa&#8217;s primary.
Gabbard further argued that the DNC&#8217;s decision, barring her from the debate, simply ensures that voters will &#8220;not have the opportunity to make that best-informed decision about who our next commander in chief should be.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not seeing these other candidates bringing to the forefront the issues that I am about the need to bring, this sea change in our foreign policy, to stop waging these wasteful regime change wars toppling dictators in other countries, the new Cold War nuclear arms race, all of which are not making us any safer,&#8221; Gabbard continued. &#8220;And instead, redirect our taxpayer dollars towards really serving the very urgent pressing needs that the American people here at home all across the country are very concerned about. Things like the coronavirus, for example.&#8221;
Tulsi Gabbard has been at war with the Democratic Party establishment ever since failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tacitly referred to her as a &#8220;Russian asset.&#8221;
“I think they have got their eye on someone who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She is the favorite of the Russians,” Clinton <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-view-backs-hillarys-tulsi-gabbard-smear-shes-a-useful-idiot">said last year </a>without specifically mentioning Gabbard by name.  “They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”
“That’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset. Yeah, she’s a Russian asset — I mean, totally,” she continued. “They know they can’t win without a third-party candidate. So I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I will guarantee you they will have a vigorous third-party challenge in the key states that they most needed.”
Gabbard immediately took to Twitter to blast Clinton as “the queen of warmongers.”
“Great! Thank you [Hillary Clinton],” Gabbard said. “You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain.”
“From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why,” she continued. “Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.”

Democratic Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Holds Super Tuesday Primary Night Event In Detroit

Tulsi Gabbard Rips DNC For Shutting Her Out Of Next Debate

Tulsi Gabbard

Former DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile, the woman who infamously leaked town hall questions to the Hillary Clinton campaign during the 2016 primary, told RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel to &#8220;go to hell&#8221; twice during a Fox News segment for suggesting that the DNC is trying to rig the primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
At the top of the segment, Brazile was asked to give her take on McDaniel saying that the Democrats may end up having a brokered convention, which will likely result in superdelegates voting against Bernie Sanders.
&#8220;First of all, I want to talk to my Republicans. First of all, stay the hell out of our race, stay the hell out of our race,&#8221; Brazile began. &#8220;I get sick and tired of listening to Republicans tell me and the Democrats about our process. First of all, they don&#8217;t have a process. They are canceling primaries. They have a winner takes all. They don&#8217;t have the kind of democracy that we see on the Democratic side.&#8221;
Brazile then proceeded to tell Donna to &#8220;go to hell&#8221; while accusing her and the Republicans of using &#8220;Russian talking points&#8221; to divide the Democrats.
&#8220;And for people to use Russian talking points to sew division among Americans that is stupid. So, Ronna, go to hell,&#8221; Brazile exclaimed, prompting some pushback from the hosts. &#8220;No, go to hell. I&#8217;m tired of it. We are not trying to prevent anyone from becoming the nominee. If you have the delegates and win, you will win.  This notion that somehow Democrats are out there trying to put hurdles or roadblocks before one candidate. that stupid.&#8221;
As to why Republicans were pushing this alleged narrative, Brazile said that the GOP is &#8220;scared&#8221; of the Democrats uniting to defeat President Trump in November while accusing them of practicing &#8220;foreign interference&#8221; by repeating &#8220;Russian talking points.&#8221;
&#8220;I know what&#8217;s going on, they are scared of Democrats coming together to defeat Donald Trump,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They need to be focusing on what we are focusing on in the Democratic Party, and that is preventing foreign interference in our election. Stop using Russian talking points, Madame chairwoman. Stop using it. It pisses me off.&#8221;
In conclusion, Brazile asked Republicans to prevent proof of the DNC rigging the primary against Bernie, seemingly unaware that she herself is living proof of that fact, given that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/donna-brazile-leaked-question-hillary-clinton-cnn-debate-2016-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">she leaked questions</a> to the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016.
&#8220;To infer that we are trying to prevent one candidate over another, that&#8217;s not happening,&#8221; concluded Brazile. &#8220;And if there is any proof, Madame Chairwoman, any proof, Mr. President, that we are trying to somehow or another change this process for one candidate, show the proof.&#8221;
In 2017, <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/05/donna-brazile-rigged-democrats-clinton-sanders-244566">Brazile stated</a> she found &#8220;no evidence&#8221; that the DNC rigged the primary against Bernie Sanders after writing in her memoir of an &#8220;unethical&#8221; agreement between the Clinton campaign and DNC that allegedly enabled Hillary to exert &#8220;control of the party long before she became its nominee.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The former chair of the DNC Donna Brazile just told <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOPChairwoman</a> to &quot;Go to hell!&quot;
THE LEFT IS COMPLETELY UNHINGED.
Donna Brazile&#39;s comments are completely DISGUSTING. <a href="https://t.co/k6BlChnQ3l">pic.twitter.com/k6BlChnQ3l</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1234870407569776641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Discussions about the Democratic Party rigging the primary against Bernie Sanders heated up on Monday when Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dropped out of the presidential race just one day after Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Even more suspicious is Sen. Elizabeth Warren&#8217;s (D-MA) decision to stay in the race despite having won fewer delegates than either Klobuchar or Buttigieg, further adding to speculation that she&#8217;s purposely trying to siphon votes away from Bernie Sanders.

Womens History Month

WATCH: Former DNC Head Donna Brazile Tells GOP Chairwoman ‘Go To Hell’ Twice On Live TV

Donna Brazile

Ronna Romney McDaniel

Sen. Elizabeth Warren&#8217;s (D-MA) tacitly admitted, in an email to supporters that went out Saturday night, that the Massachusetts Democrat is staying in the race past Super Tuesday in order to compete for the nomination at a brokered Democratic National Convention in July.
Warren is facing calls to drop out after placing a dismal fourth or fifth in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and, as of Saturday, South Carolina, leaving little hope that she will ever top the ticket at the behest of Democratic voters. She is not leading in any Super Tuesday states &#8212; not even her home state of Massachusetts (she&#8217;s losing, it seems, to the more reliably progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)).
But, as <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-what-are-the-chances-of-a-brokered-convention/">FiveThirtyEight</a> has repeatedly pointed out, there is a good chance &#8212; 1 in 7 &#8212; that no current candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination is likely to get a majority of available delegates, throwing the Democratic National Convention to a second vote, putting superdelegates in play, and paving the way for a &#8220;brokered convention,&#8221; where candidates wheel and deal to win the nod.
As of Sunday, former Vice President Joe Biden&#8217;s chances of snagging the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have increased to 2 in 5. Sanders&#8217; chances are now 1 in 5, but the &#8220;brokered convention&#8221; scenario is not far behind. Warren is behind &#8220;brokered convention&#8221; at a 1 in 8 chance of being nominated to take on President Donald Trump.
But in a brokered convention, it&#8217;s anyone&#8217;s game &#8212; and that&#8217;s what Warren is counting on, according to her campaign.
&#8220;As the dust settles after March 3rd, the reality of this race will be clear,&#8221; Warren&#8217;s memo reads. &#8220;No candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates needed to win an outright claim to the Democratic nomination.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: In memo, Elizabeth Warren campaign manager <a href="https://twitter.com/RogerLau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RogerLau</a> basically admits the Warren candidacy is now a convention effort.
“no candidate will likely have a path to the majority of delegates”
“Milwaukee is the final play.”
“ultimately prevail at the national convention” <a href="https://t.co/UDscXO7VYF">pic.twitter.com/UDscXO7VYF</a>
&mdash; Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1234120115580547076?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Warren&#8217;s team then sets out their &#8220;path to victory,&#8221; through a number of small contests (the Northern Mariana Islands) and late states (Alaska and Hawaii), to enough of a delegate total to make Warren a power player on a second convention vote.
&#8220;In the road to the nomination, the Wisconsin primary is halftime and Milwaukee is the final play,&#8221; Warren&#8217;s team concludes, referring to the Democratic National Convention. &#8220;Our grassroots campaign is built to compete in every state and territory and ultimately prevail at the national convention in Milwaukee.&#8221;
Candidates who currently have a shot at the nomination &#8212; and a good chance at racking up just under the number of delegates necessary to take the nomination outright &#8212; like Sanders have been adamant that the nomination go to the top vote-getter regardless of whether they have a majority of delegates or not; anything else would be subverting the will of the people. But Sanders argued, back in 2016, that such an outcome would be unfair, particularly if superdelegates become involved, as they would in any &#8220;brokered convention&#8221; scenario.
No matter what, the plan is a &#8220;Hail Mary&#8221; pass for Warren. There hasn&#8217;t been a brokered convention since the modern system was first put in place in 1972, and Warren isn&#8217;t among the top preferences for either voters or superdelegates (who would be more likely to select a &#8220;moderate&#8221; like Biden or former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg).
Warren is, also, &#8220;trying to survive a month without winning any delegates. She last won any in Iowa on Feb. 3 and is now banking on Super Tuesday after she was shut out in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/us/politics/sc-primary-biden.html">per The New York Times</a>.
More than 400 delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday in more than a dozen states. Warren is well behind in most of them.

Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren Campaigns In South Carolina Ahead Of Primary

Elizabeth Warren’s Campaign: This Is About A Brokered Convention Now

Elizabeth Warren

National Horserace And Looking Ahead
In terms of the national horserace (for whatever such a metric may even be worth, at this point!), Soviet Union-honeymooning socialist loon bag Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has officially overtaken the rest of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primary field. <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html">Sanders currently stands 4.4% above second-place former Vice President Joe Biden</a> in the average of recent national polling. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who will not actually be in a primary race until Super Tuesday in a few weeks), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg round out the top five in most recent national polling.
Officially, Bernie Sanders is the <a href="https://www.creators.com/read/ben-shapiro/02/20/why-the-democrats-wont-stop-bernie">clear</a> and <a href="https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/3633/Who-will-win-the-2020-Democratic-presidential-nomination">unequivocal</a> frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Unofficially, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-bloomberg-makes-major-moves-after-democrats-screw-up-iowa-caucuses">seems to be gambling</a> that, with his carpet-bombing the airwaves and with his general war chest, he will be able to outlast a rapidly languishing Biden and prove to be the Democratic National Committee&#8217;s (DNC) last man standing in the way of a polarizing Sanders nomination. Of course, query whether the DNC would even be interested in lining up behind Bloomberg, who ran for New York City mayor as a Republican and had a rather controversial video resurface yesterday, if it were to ultimately come down to a Bloomberg versus Sanders long march to next summer&#8217;s nominating convention.
The obvious question, at this point, is whether anyone in the Democratic field (or perhaps not even presently in the field) can ultimately overtake Sanders. Large swaths of the Democratic Party&#8217;s institutional apparatus have been publicly fretting over the prospect of a Sanders nomination, as some within the more moderate older guard (not unreasonably) fear nominating someone with a decades-long track record of praising actual communist regimes, calling for the nationalization of entire industries, and so forth. But for the time being, it seems like Bernie Sanders is on cruise control. Polling in the upcoming caucus state of Nevada is very sparse, but Sanders should certainly be considered the favorite there, at this juncture.
State-By-State Results Since Last Week
Last night marked the first-in-the-nation Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders was the night&#8217;s big winner, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-socialist-bernie-sanders-wins-new-hampshire">reported</a>. Entrepreneur Andrew Yang also ended his long shot bid earlier in the evening; I&#8217;d expect Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to become the next candidate to follow Yang&#8217;s lead and drop out.
Here are the full New Hampshire results, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/11/us/elections/results-new-hampshire-live-forecast.html">reported by The New York Times</a>:
<ol>
<li>Sanders 26%</li>
<li>Buttigieg 24%</li>
<li>Klobuchar 20%</li>
<li>Warren 9%</li>
<li>Biden 8%</li>
<li>Steyer 4%</li>
<li>Yang 3%</li>
</ol>
There are hardly any words to describe the simply calamitous nature of erstwhile national front runner Joe Biden&#8217;s start to this 2020 Democratic Party presidential nominating contest. He has now severely underperformed in both Iowa and New Hampshire, leaving his campaign&#8217;s future looking <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/biden-donors-divided-on-his-prospects-after-new-hampshire-primary-loss.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&amp;par=sharebar">exceedingly grim</a>. I&#8217;d expect him to bow out by the time South Carolina is over.
Latest National Polling Data
The <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html">RealClearPolitics</a> polling average for 2/04 – 2/11 shows Sanders with an average national polling lead of 4.4%. Here is the latest in national polling, via RealClearPolitics:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/79zfxkws33/econTabReport.pdf">Economist/YouGov</a> (2/09 – 2/11): Sanders 22%, Biden 18%, Warren 15%, Bloomberg 12%, Buttigieg 10%</li>
<li><a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/">The Hill/HarrisX</a> (2/07 – 2/10): Biden 23%, Sanders 20%, Bloomberg 16%, Warren 9%, Buttigieg 9%</li>
<li><a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_US_021120/">Monmouth</a> (2/06 – 2/09): Sanders 26%, Biden 16%, Warren 13%, Buttigieg 13%, Bloomberg 11%</li>
<li><a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3655">Quinnipiac</a> (2/05 – 2/09): Sanders 25%, Biden 17%, Bloomberg 15%, Warren 14%, Buttigieg 10%</li>
<li><a href="https://morningconsult.com/2020-democratic-primary/">Morning Consult</a> (2/04 – 2/09): Sanders 25%, Biden 22%, Bloomberg 17%, Warren 11%, Buttigieg 11%</li>
</ul>
Latest Upcoming State-By-State Polling Data
Nevada: Biden 21.0%, Sanders 17.5%, Warren 11.5%, Steyer 10.0%, Buttigieg 7.0%
South Carolina: Biden 31%, Steyer 18.5%, Sanders 17.0%, Warren 9.5%, Buttigieg 5.5%
This article has been updated to reflect the most recent survey data.

Democratic presidential debate stage

Who Will Win The Democratic Primary? The Latest On 2020 Presidential Primary Polling.

Bernie Sanders

Democratic Party

Pete Buttigieg

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) defended President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to fire two brothers at the National Security Council (NSC) and an ambassador on Friday in an interview on Fox News.
Late on Friday, news broke that the Trump administration removed Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and attorney Yevgeny Vindman from the NSC, and also recalled U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.
&#8220;You know, the president yesterday, as you probably know, Congresswoman, fired Gordon Sondland, our Ambassador to Ukraine, and Alexander Vindman, top security official,&#8221; host Neil Cavuto said. &#8220;A lot of people were likening it to another, you know, Friday night massacre akin to what Richard Nixon did back in the ‘70s. Do you agree with that?&#8221;
&#8220;Ultimately, whether people like or not, there are consequences to elections,&#8221; Gabbard responded. &#8220;And the president has, within his purview, to make the decisions about who he’d like serving in his cabinet.&#8221;
At an earlier point in the interview, Gabbard took aim at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg when asked what she thought about the DNC making the rules easier for Bloomberg to qualify for the debates.
&#8220;It’s wrong. It’s wrong,&#8221; Gabbard responded. &#8220;The fact that a billionaire can come in and have that kind of influence to change the rules of the DNC all of a sudden, not coincidently, to be able to benefit Michael Bloomberg while voters here in New Hampshire and across the country are saying, hey, we want to be able to make the best informed decision possible before we go in and cast our vote, understanding the seriousness of this election.&#8221;
&#8220;But they’re not able to do so so long as both the DNC and some of the corporate media partners are enacting these rules where they are playing favorites,&#8221; Gabbard responded. &#8220;They are picking winners and losers before voters have the opportunity to do so.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="Tulsi Gabbard on Iowa Caucuses, importance of New Hampshire primary" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D6k091R1NEg?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So poking around the state here, we’re seeing a lot of the candidates show up at various rallies and events, including Joe Biden who is busy crisscrossing the state as well. A lot of the candidates will be doing that, including my next guest, the Hawaii Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard who joins us right now in the flesh.
Good to see you.
REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HI), 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
CAVUTO: You saw this debate over what happened in Iowa.
GABBARD: Yes.
CAVUTO: A lot of people think even Tom Perez, the head of the Democratic National Committee, he should go. What do you think?
GABBARD: I think first, they should actually solve some of the problems. I think the more we learn about all of the things that went wrong really are a disservice to the voters in Iowa who went and they spent their time to let their voices be heard. And yet, their voices have not been heard in a resounding and very clear way.
I would think that, whether it’s the Iowa caucus chair working in concert with the DNC chair, they would proactively, themselves, want to go and make sure that those results are accurately counted to best serve the residents of Iowa.
CAVUTO: You know &#8212; as you know, Iowa holds a unique position as the first in the nation contest. Do you think it should have that four years from now?
GABBARD: That’s up to the states to decide. The states determine when they hold their primary elections. What I’ve been advocating for now for years are some very key reforms to our Democratic primaries. I think they should be open primaries.
I think they should allow same-day registration so you don’t have people in New York, for example, who if they didn’t register, I don’t know, something like five months before election day, they can’t go and vote. And I think we need to get rid of superdelegates.
Once again, this is continuing to be an issue of concern to voters here in New Hampshire who are worried about their vote actually being counted and how they don’t want it to be overruled by a small group of individuals who can come in and say, you know what, I don’t &#8212; I don’t think you guys know what you’re doing. We’re going to come in and decide &#8212;
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Well, you know they’re talking that way again &#8212;
(CROSSTALK)
GABBARD: &#8212; this election &#8212;
CAVUTO: &#8212; Congresswoman, right?
GABBARD: That’s the concern &#8212;
CAVUTO: I mean, since the emergence of Bernie Sanders as a possible nominee, they’re revisiting this rule in place now &#8212;
GABBARD: Yes.
CAVUTO: &#8212; that superdelegates can’t vote on the first ballot. If they do that &#8212; change that, what do you think?
GABBARD: Well, the issue is &#8212; you know, I think, moving it back from the first ballot to the second ballot was a very small step in the right direction. But I want to be clear, we’ve got to get rid of superdelegates all together. And that change was not anywhere near enough, once again, to make sure that we as Democrats are standing by the decision that voters make on who our Democratic nominee should be.
CAVUTO: And you like the idea of an open primary where this way &#8212; you know, not just anyone in any party &#8212; any stream (ph) would be able to vote. If that were the math, I mean, you would poll a lot better because Conservatives are drawn to you, Independents are drawn to you. But in some of these rules, you’re kind of between a rock and a hard place.
GABBARD: Well, this is bigger than &#8212; this is not about me or my campaign. This is something I’ve been calling for for years, since the 2016 primary elections where I saw and I heard and met with people who are Democrat, who are Independents &#8212; who are here in New Hampshire &#8212; who are undeclared and who want to make sure that their voice is heard. We need to make it as easy and as accessible as possible for people to go in and participate in our democracy.
CAVUTO: How do you feel &#8212; and let’s say, you weren’t able to participate in the debate last night and yet they recently made rules in the party to all but grease the skids for Michael Bloomberg being able to debate. What do you think of that?
GABBARD: It’s wrong. It’s wrong. The fact that a billionaire can come in and have that kind of influence to change the rules of the DNC all of a sudden, not coincidently, to be able to benefit Michael Bloomberg while voters here in New Hampshire and across the country are saying, hey, we want to be able to make the best informed decision possible before we go in and cast our vote, understanding the seriousness of this election. But they’re not able to do so so long as both the DNC and some of the corporate media partners are enacting these rules where they are playing favorites. They are picking winners and losers before voters have the opportunity to do so.
CAVUTO: Do you think you’re just the odd-woman-out in this environment, though, that going after Hillary Clinton, now suing Hillary Clinton out, for saying you’re an agent of the Russians and all that &#8212; challenging the way they go about establishing a nominee and the process they use, that it’s an uphill battle for you &#8212;
GABBARD: Of course.
CAVUTO: &#8212; that you’re going against the tide &#8212;
GABBARD: We’re &#8212; I think it’s how you determine what the tide is. If you’re looking at the powerful elite in Washington, absolutely. I and so many people across the country are challenging the powerful elite who have shown they are not working for the best interests of the people.
So we’re calling for the truth, we’re calling for a straight-forward process for voters to make sure that their voices are heard in this democracy and so that we can actually have a government that’s of, by, and for the people &#8212; not of, by, and for the powerful elite in Washington.
CAVUTO: All right. You’re up against, you know, a fundraising disadvantage. I was noticing, Congresswoman, in this state Tom Steyer has already spent north of $15.5 billion if you include New Hampshire and surrounding media markets.
GABBARD: Yes.
CAVUTO: Michael Bloomberg, who essentially is getting &#8212; you know, not focusing on this state. He’s spent $6.2 million, Bernie Sanders $3.7 million, Mayor Pete, at recently $1.4 million. You are at about $390,000.
GABBARD: We are at a disadvantage. I’ll take the opportunity now to ask your viewers if you’d like to contribute to my campaign &#8212; go to tulsi2020.com because we really are &#8212; I’m focused on really delivering my message directly to voters here in New Hampshire and across the country, understand what &#8212;
CAVUTO: Could you accept any of those other candidates, though &#8212; if any one of them became the nominee, could you support them?
GABBARD: I’m focused &#8212; I’m focused on &#8212; on winning.
CAVUTO: No, I’m sure you are but &#8212;
GABBARD: And here’s why &#8212; and here’s why &#8212;
CAVUTO: You don’t join the camp that says a socialist in Bernie Sanders is the nominee is political suicide?
GABBARD: No, I don’t. I don’t believe that.
CAVUTO: OK.
GABBARD: What I believe and what I hear from voters here is that they want a new generation of leadership. But they also want someone who has experience &#8212; experience to walk in on day one prepared to lead and to serve as Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces and experience to be able to work with Congress to be &#8212; to actually be able to get things done, to solve problems.
And what I bring to the table is experience in both of those areas, having served at the federal, state, and local levels of government, serving in Congress now for seven, going on eight, years, and having served in the military for 17 years and deploying twice to the Middle East, able to bring people together, heal these divides in our country where while we can agree to disagree on certain issues, even strongly, we stand together motivated by this love for our country and an understanding that when we stand and work side-by-side as Americans, we can accomplish anything.
CAVUTO: You know, the president yesterday, as you probably know, Congresswoman, fired Gordon Sondland, our Ambassador to Ukraine, and Alexander Vindman, top security official. A lot of people were likening it to another, you know, Friday night massacre akin to what Richard Nixon did back in the ‘70s. Do you agree with that?
GABBARD: Look, I disagree with so many of Trump’s decisions, especially as it relates to foreign policy. I’ve been very outspoken in that area. Ultimately, whether people like or not, there are consequences to elections. And the president has, within his purview, to make the decisions about who he’d like serving in his cabinet.
CAVUTO: All right. Congresswoman, thank you very much.
GABBARD: Thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: And you have a long day &#8212;
GABBARD: Good to see you, Neil.
CAVUTO: &#8212; days of campaigning &#8212;
GABBARD: Yes, we do. Seventy-two hours.
CAVUTO: All right. Tulsi Gabbard, thank you very, very much.</blockquote>

Democratic Presidential Candidates Participate In Fourth Debate In Ohio

Tulsi Gabbard Defends Trump Firing Vindman Brothers, Sondland. Rips DNC, Bloomberg.

Alexander Vindman

Donald Trump

Gordon Sondland

Michael Bloomberg

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez called for an immediate recanvassing in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday after days of mounting concerns surrounding the accuracy of the results.
Perez&#8217;s call came after The New York Times reported on Thursday that the results &#8220;were riddled with inconsistencies and other flaws.&#8221;
&#8220;According to a New York Times analysis, more than 100 precincts reported results that were internally inconsistent, that were missing data or that were not possible under the complex rules of the Iowa caucuses,&#8221; The Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/upshot/iowa-caucuses-errors-results.html">reported</a>. &#8220;In some cases, vote tallies do not add up. In others, precincts are shown allotting the wrong number of delegates to certain candidates. And in at least a few cases, the Iowa Democratic Party’s reported results do not match those reported by the precincts.&#8221;
&#8220;Enough is enough,&#8221; Perez said. &#8220;In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Enough is enough. In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass.
&mdash; Tom Perez (@TomPerez) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPerez/status/1225468833458245632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The state party, in reforms for 2020, introduced an opportunity for campaigns to request a recanvass and, if necessary, a recounct of the results if they are able to show that new figures could alter the allocation of delegates to the national convention in the summer,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dnc-chair-calls-for-recanvas-in-iowa/2020/02/06/0ec4dc4c-4906-11ea-9164-d3154ad8a5cd_story.html?utm_source=reddit.com">reported</a>. &#8220;The state’s rules do not explain how exactly a recanvass differs from a full recount, though both are more significant than a simple precinct review, which involves checking caucus-level anomalies.&#8221;
CNN Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny added: &#8220;The Iowa Democratic Party did not have advance warning that @TomPerez was calling for a recanvass of the Iowa caucus results, two people familiar with the matter tell @CNN . Perez doesn&#8217;t point out that the DNC has been running the show in Iowa for the last 48 hours.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: The Iowa Democratic Party did not have advance warning that <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPerez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomPerez</a> was calling for a recanvass of the Iowa caucus results, two people familiar with the matter tell <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CNN</a>. Perez doesn&#39;t point out that the DNC has been running the show in Iowa for the last 48 hours.
&mdash; Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffzeleny/status/1225472426894647296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Before Perez’s announcement, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders were virtually tied at 26 percent with 97 percent of precincts reporting,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/06/dnc-chair-calls-for-recanvass-of-iowa-caucuses-111514">reported</a>. Buttigieg led in percentage of state delegate equivalents by just one-tenth of a percentage point, but Sanders led in the popular vote by more than 2,500 votes. The Associated Press said the race was too close to call.&#8221;
Commentators and top surrogates for socialist Bernie Sanders responded by suggesting that the DNC was trying to stop Sanders from winning the state.
Far-left activist Shaun King wrote: &#8220;Let me see if I understand this. 97% of the votes are counted. Bernie surges and is about to take the lead in delegates. @TomPerez calls for something called a &#8216;recanvass.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Let me see if I understand this. 
97% of the votes are counted. Bernie surges and is about to take the lead in delegates. <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPerez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomPerez</a> calls for something called a &quot;recanvass.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/R9RdiWdgPD">https://t.co/R9RdiWdgPD</a>
&mdash; Shaun King (@shaunking) <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1225471631071567877?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Current affairs wrote: &#8220;Tom Perez steps in just as the last unreleased results threatened to put Bernie over the top and calls for the whole count to stop and be scrapped and started all over again.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Tom Perez steps in just as the last unreleased results threatened to put Bernie over the top and calls for the whole count to stop and be scrapped and started all over again. <a href="https://t.co/1i92wVsbzU">https://t.co/1i92wVsbzU</a>
&mdash; Current Affairs (@curaffairs) <a href="https://twitter.com/curaffairs/status/1225484944346157061?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

US-VOTE-2020-DEMOCRATS-DEBATE

DNC Chairman Tom Perez Calls For Immediate Recanvassing In Iowa Caucuses

Iowa

It just continues to get worse and worse for the Iowa Democratic Party — and, by extension, for both the Democratic National Committee and grassroots Democrats across the country alike. The already-infamous app crashing that has resulted in politicos still not knowing the full and final results of Monday night&#8217;s first-in-the-nation caucuses was compounded by the fact, as The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-acting-secretary-iowa-democratic-party-refused-help-testing-failed-caucus-app">noted</a>, that the Iowa Democratic Party turned down express overtures from the Department of Homeland Security to help with vetting the technology.
As of Thursday morning, The New York Times&#8217; &#8220;live&#8221; caucus <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/04/us/elections/results-iowa-caucus.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage">results tabulator</a> showed former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg with a remarkably narrow lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Buttigieg currently leads Sanders 26.2% to 26.1% in the total statewide popular vote, and by 550 to 547 in terms of state delegate equivalents. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is in third place, with 18.2% and 381 state delegate equivalents, whereas bumbling former Vice President Joe Biden is in fourth place with 15.8% and 331 state delegate equivalents. Overall, then, with 97% of Iowa precincts reporting, Buttigieg leads in 59 of Iowa&#8217;s 99 counties, Sanders leads in 19, and politicos everywhere eagerly anticipate the results of the final 28. Despite his minuscule deficit in statewide popular vote and state delegate equivalents, however, the Times&#8217; current &#8220;live estimate&#8221; of who will ultimately prevail shows Sanders as a narrow favorite over Buttigieg.
In short, this is total chaos and a dumpster fire of catastrophic proportions.
But now, the Times is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/upshot/iowa-caucuses-errors-results.html?emc=edit_na_20200206&amp;ref=headline&amp;nl=breaking-news&amp;campaign_id=60&amp;instance_id=0&amp;segment_id=21030&amp;user_id=b715e556383ae49550d07cacec388fa8&amp;regi_id=74074015&amp;fbclid=IwAR1YBbD9XtncQ9h-ewnL6kg3WQsQ6Jf4rekz3cDas72ynCHODBKdenZzTvs">separately reporting</a> that the results finally reported by the Iowa Democratic Party on Wednesday are &#8220;riddled with errors and inconsistencies.&#8221;
&#8220;The results released by the Iowa Democratic Party on Wednesday were riddled with inconsistencies and other flaws,&#8221; the Gray Lady wrote. &#8220;According to a New York Times analysis, more than 100 precincts reported results that were internally inconsistent, that were missing data or that were not possible under the complex rules of the Iowa caucuses.&#8221;
&#8220;In some cases, vote tallies do not add up,&#8221; the Times continued. &#8220;In others, precincts are shown allotting the wrong number of delegates to certain candidates. And in at least a few cases, the Iowa Democratic Party’s reported results do not match those reported by the precincts.&#8221;
&#8220;Some of these inconsistencies may prove to be innocuous, and the irregularities do not indicate an intentional effort to compromise or rig the result,&#8221; the newspaper reported. &#8220;But not all of the errors are minor, and they raise questions about whether the public will ever get a completely precise account of the Iowa results. With Mr. Sanders closing to within 0.1% with 97% of 1,765 precincts reporting, the race could easily grow close enough for even the most minor errors to delay a final projection or raise doubts about a declared winner.&#8221;
This is not exactly the way a political party ostensibly preoccupied with repelling election interference and preserving the integrity of the franchise would prefer that a leading left-wing newspaper cover its first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Separately this week, guru Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/iowa-might-have-screwed-up-the-whole-nomination-process/">weighed in with insights</a> on how &#8220;Iowa might have screwed up the whole nomination process.&#8221;
&#8220;To be &#8230; blunt: The Iowa Democratic Party’s colossal screw-up in reporting results will potentially have direct effects on the outcome of the nomination process,&#8221; Silver wrote. &#8220;The failure to report results will almost certainly help Biden, assuming that indications that he performed poorly in Iowa are correct, as they won’t get nearly as much media coverage. And they’ll hurt whichever candidate wins the state — most likely Sanders or Buttigieg.&#8221;
&#8220;It’s not a good situation for the Democratic Party,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;And it’s already too late for the damage to be entirely undone, even if Iowa eventually gets its act together.&#8221;

Pete Buttigieg continues to hold lead over Bernie Sanders in Iowa

Iowa Results Reported Wednesday Apparently ‘Riddled With Errors’

Amy Klobuchar

Department of Homeland Security

Well, that didn&#8217;t take long.
Democrats in Iowa, using a voting app ordered by the Iowa Democratic Party and designed by Democrats, failed in spectacular fashion on Monday to conduct the first-in-the-nation caucuses to ultimately decide the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
But wait. The Democrats aren&#8217;t to blame. Apparently, President Trump is.
&#8220;It might be helpful to have a President and government that understand technology so this sort of thing doesn’t happen,&#8221; candidate Andrew Yang wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It might be helpful to have a President and government that understand technology so this sort of thing doesn’t happen.
&mdash; Andrew Yang🧢 (@AndrewYang) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1224572709918650369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Yang, 45, made his fortune in the tech industry. But he didn&#8217;t explain how Trump perhaps better understanding technology would have prevented the debacle in Iowa.
In a statement early Tuesday, the Iowa Democratic Party blamed a “coding issue in the reporting system” for the problems, the Associated Press reported. &#8220;The problem kept party officials from releasing results from Monday’s caucus, the much-hyped kickoff to the 2020 primary. It was an embarrassing twist after months of promoting the contest as a chance for Democrats to find some clarity in a jumbled field with no clear front-runner.&#8221;
Top Trump officials also said there was no external influence on the app. “No one hacked into it, so this is more of a stress or load issue, as well as a reporting issue we’re seeing in Iowa,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dhs-acting-secretary-iowa-democratic-party-refused-help-testing-failed-caucus-app">said acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf</a> in an interview with Fox on Tuesday morning.
Conspiracy theories abound, including one in which Democrats are trying to shut down Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the socialist from Vermont who increasingly found himself atop the polls in Iowa.
Wrote Eoin Higgins, a senior editor for Common Dreams: &#8220;Iowa Democratic Party uses secretive app for caucus reporting — App stops working a few hours before caucus begins — Results trickle in but show dominating performance for Sanders, death knell for Biden camp — Counting now shut down by DNC for &#8216;quality control.&#8217; I have that right?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
-Iowa Democratic Party uses secretive app for caucus reporting -App stops working a few hours before caucus begins -Results trickle in but show dominating performance for Sanders, death knell for Biden camp -Counting now shut down by DNC for &quot;quality control&quot;
I have that right?
&mdash; Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) <a href="https://twitter.com/EoinHiggins_/status/1224535221024034816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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For his part, Trump put the blame squarely on Democrats in Iowa.
&#8220;The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not. I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama’s previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!&#8221; Trump wrote first thing in the morning.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not. I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama’s previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224702718754856960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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And Trump said: &#8220;The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is &#8216;Trump.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224657196392370177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Twitter users had a field day with Yang&#8217;s post.
&#8220;You want President Trump to step in and fix this mess for the Dem party? I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;d love to be asked,&#8221; wrote one user.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
You want President Trump to step in and fix this mess for the Dem party? I&#39;m sure he&#39;d love to be asked.
&mdash; Michael (@MkHmmr) <a href="https://twitter.com/MkHmmr/status/1224574929250717696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It might be helpful to have a President who understands the President doesnt have anything to do with that,&#8221; wrote another.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It might be helpful to have a President who understands the President doesnt have anything to do with that.
&mdash; Dusty (@dustopian) <a href="https://twitter.com/dustopian/status/1224657008730824704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Yes, Republicans did not have any issue. The democrats ran their caucus and simply messed it up every single step of the way. Worse it will be suspect even after they eventually get some results. Democrats have a plan, unfortunately it is a disaster,&#8221; wrote a third.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yes, Republicans did not have any issue. The democrats ran their caucus and simply messed it up every single step of the way. Worse it will be suspect even after they eventually get some results.
Democrats have a plan, unfortunately it is a disaster.
&mdash; politically_matt (@MattPolitically) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattPolitically/status/1224676670642237440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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And a fourth summed it all up. &#8220;The President doesn’t get to run the caucus, dumbass. Might be helpful to have a president who understands how elections work or what states or political parties are.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The President doesn’t get to run the caucus, dumbass. Might be helpful to have a president who understands how elections work or what states or political parties are.
&mdash; Ali (@ali) <a href="https://twitter.com/ali/status/1224580659030765568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Presidential Candidates Hit The Soapbox At The Iowa State Fair

Democratic Presidential Candidate Knows Who’s To Blame For Iowa Vote Debacle — It’s President Trump!

Andrew Yang

Chris Matthews likened it to a &#8220;three car funeral,&#8221; Joe Scarborough called it a bad omen, and Jeffrey Toobin simply hailed it an embarrassment. No matter who one consults about Monday night&#8217;s Iowa Democratic Party caucuses, the opinions among Democrats and their allies are nearly universal: Trump won big.
Over at MSNBC, a noticeably disgusted Chris Matthews said President Trump was &#8220;chuckling all night&#8221; as the Democratic Party struggled to so much as organize a &#8220;three car funeral.&#8221;
&#8220;The guy in the White House is chuckling all night here, showing the Democrats can&#8217;t even get a three car funeral organized, or whatever you want to call it. I would say to the people of Iowa, &#8216;Will the last person leaving Des Moines, please turn out the lights?&#8217;  This has not been a success,&#8221; Matthews frustratingly declared, as reported by <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2020/02/04/disgusted-matthews-mocks-three-car-funeral-iowa-preview-dem">Newsbusters</a>.
Matthews then tried to spin this gross display of incompetence on the part of the Democrats into the fault of the Iowa caucuses themselves, even though Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez was <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPerez/status/1224475047974330369?s=20">literally boasting</a> hours before the election about the &#8220;reforms&#8221; the party had instituted to ensure a more transparent primary process.
&#8220;I think we have to ask ourselves about the viability of the Iowa caucuses as an institution to start off this decision this country has to make to find someone to challenge Trump,&#8221; continued Matthews.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Chris Matthews on Iowa Caucuses: This has not been a success. <a href="https://t.co/tAmEUmfDXO">pic.twitter.com/tAmEUmfDXO</a>
&mdash; The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1224567133364862976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Joe Scarborough of &#8220;Morning Joe&#8221; blasted the party for leaving the results of Monday night&#8217;s important election in the hands of a &#8220;crappy app&#8221; they did not even know would properly work.
&#8220;What is wrong with the Iowa Democratic Party?&#8221; Scarborough began on Tuesday morning. &#8220;Again, this is a party who botched the call four years ago, rushed it when the media was shocked that they would be so transparent, and now they get on the phone for 74 seconds? The world&#8217;s watching this. We&#8217;re not being melodramatic.&#8221;
&#8220;For a year and a half, American politics has been focused on this moment, and the Democratic Party has a crappy app and say, well, nothing happened to the app,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Then you hear reports something did happen to the app. Was there election interference? Did somebody try to hack into the app? Was it just pure incompetence? Did they lose the information? Why were they only on the phone for 74 seconds when they should be holding two-hour press conferences explaining to America and the world what happened.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;The world&#39;s watching this,&quot; says <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeNBC</a> of the delayed results for the Iowa caucuses <a href="https://t.co/RqtL1EY6Qj">pic.twitter.com/RqtL1EY6Qj</a>
&mdash; Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) <a href="https://twitter.com/Morning_Joe/status/1224656620447289345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Writing at CNN, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/03/opinions/iowa-caucus-is-an-embarrassment-toobin/index.html">minced no words</a> by deeming the night an &#8220;embarrassment.&#8221; Toobin even argued that the whole concept of the Iowa caucuses should be scrapped altogether.
&#8220;Maybe the fiasco of the late reporting results from the Iowa caucus this year will have a positive legacy — the end of the caucus process and the invitation to another state to start the delegate selection process,&#8221; wrote Toobin. &#8220;The caucuses are an embarrassment to the Democratic Party and the United States. This is no way to pick a nominee.&#8221;
None other than hardcore Bernie Sanders supporter Cenk Uygur of &#8220;The Young Turks&#8221; expressed the most outrage over the Iowa results.
&#8220;I’m enraged about the lack of transparency from Democratic officials in Iowa &amp; nationally. Who designed the vote counting app &amp; who paid for it? The point of winning #IowaCaucuses is to get positive press coverage and now that’s ruined,&#8221; Uygur declared on Twitter. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’m enraged about the lack of transparency from Democratic officials in Iowa &amp; nationally. Who designed the vote counting app &amp; who paid for it? The point of winning <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IowaCaucuses?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IowaCaucuses</a> is to get positive press coverage and now that’s ruined. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotMeUs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NotMeUs</a>
&mdash; Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) <a href="https://twitter.com/cenkuygur/status/1224566964623798272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/cenkuygur?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cenkuygur</a> on impact of delayed <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IowaCaucus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IowaCaucus</a> results, &quot;The press that you get out of it is the relevant part of Iowa and they just ruined that for the winner.&quot;
Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/tytlive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#tytlive</a>: <a href="https://t.co/epNjbsjqnS">https://t.co/epNjbsjqnS</a> <a href="https://t.co/vL7WIf6FuG">pic.twitter.com/vL7WIf6FuG</a>
&mdash; The Young Turks (@TheYoungTurks) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheYoungTurks/status/1224567250994094080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Chris Matthews

‘Three Car Funeral’: Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Others Freak Over Iowa Embarrassment

Cenk Uygur

Joe Scarborough

Morning Joe

MSNBC

Last night&#8217;s Iowa caucuses debacle was nothing less than a catastrophe for the Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee. &#8220;You had one job,&#8221; as the <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-had-one-job">popular meme</a> goes, and the Iowa Democratic Party failed did not merely fail that job — it exhibited the kind of reckless and gross incompetence that would be merely embarrassing were it not for the rather Orwellian fact that these are the same people who want to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-the-democrat-party-cant-run-its-own-primary-but-wants-to-run-the-health-care-system">nationalize and control our health care</a>. As of this moment, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-to-watch-for-during-tonights-iowa-caucuses">politicos across the country</a> are still waiting with bated breath for official results from last night&#8217;s caucuses.
The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) has issued a preliminary official response, as The Daily Wire&#8217;s Ashe Schow <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iowa-democrats-on-caucus-debacle-we-gotta-learn-to-code">reported</a> this morning:
<blockquote>As precinct caucus results started coming in, the IDP ran them through an accuracy and quality check. It became clear that there were inconsistencies with the reports. The underlying cause of these inconsistencies was not immediately clear, and required investigation, which took time.
As this investigation unfolded, IDP staff activated pre-planned backup measures and entered data manually. This took longer than expected.
As part of our investigation, we determined with certainty that the underlying data collected via the app was sound. While the app was recording data accurately, it was reporting out only partial data. We have determined that this was due to a coding issue in the reporting system. This issue was identified and fixed. The application’s reporting issue did not impact the ability of precinct chairs to report data accurately.</blockquote>
That underlying app, it turns out, was developed, in large part, with the failed 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign&#8217;s campaign manager, <a href="https://twitter.com/ComfortablySmug/status/1224541115241680902">Robby Mook</a>. Some Democrats and leftists last night were indeed quick to blame Mook for their party&#8217;s Hawkeye State woes.
&#8220;I’ve always felt like Robby Mook didn’t get enough credit for his part in tanking Hillary’s campaign but now knowing he was behind this failed Iowa app I’m positive he was fully responsible for tanking Hillary’s campaign,&#8221; tweeted Mashable&#8217;s Matt Binder.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I’ve always felt like Robby Mook didn’t get enough credit for his part in tanking Hillary’s campaign but now knowing he was behind this failed Iowa app I’m positive he was fully responsible for tanking Hillary’s campaign
&mdash; Matt Binder (@MattBinder) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1224540937138966528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Now, as of this morning, we know that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially reached out to the IDP to see if the state party wanted any help with vetting the new technology. The IDP, in turn, brazenly refused the feds&#8217; request.
&#8220;Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf says the Iowa Democrat[ic] Party declined to have their new caucus app vetted by the department,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/dhs-sec-chad-wolf-democrats-iowa-clinton-app">reports</a>. &#8220;Appearing on &#8216;Fox &amp; Friends&#8217; with co-host Steve Doocy, Wolf said that the DHS cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency had offered to test the app from a &#8216;hacking perspective,&#8217; but the party had declined.&#8221;
&#8220;They declined and so we are seeing a couple of issues with it,&#8221; Wolf added, according to the outlet.
Heather Swift, officials spokesperson for DHS, also corroborated Wolf&#8217;s on-air narrative.
&#8220;Homeland Security&#8217;s [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] offered to test the Iowa Caucus app,&#8221; she tweeted. &#8220;They declined. See [Acting Secretary Wolf] interview,&#8221; she added, linking to Wolf&#8217;s &#8220;Fox &amp; Friends&#8221; appearance.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Homeland Security&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/CISAgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CISAgov</a> offered to test the Iowa Caucus app. They declined. See <a href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DHS_Wolf</a> interview <a href="https://t.co/GoQeEMZbuJ">https://t.co/GoQeEMZbuJ</a>
&mdash; Heather Swift, DHS spokesperson (@SpoxDHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpoxDHS/status/1224684831558324225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Suffice it to say this is not exactly the start the Democratic Party wanted for its campaign to defeat President Donald Trump this November.

Chad Wolf

DHS Acting Secretary: Iowa Democratic Party Refused Help Testing Failed Caucus App

2016 election

Fox News

Hillary Clinton

Robby Mook

By dawn on Tuesday, it was clear that the debacle in Iowa was unprecedented.
A perfect storm had rolled in just in time for the state&#8217;s first-in-the-nation vote on the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. A newly, apparently untested app meant to ease communication among precinct chiefs during the caucuses failed completely, with the app designers blaming &#8220;coding issues.&#8221; A failsafe backstop — having precinct chiefs simply phone in the results to the state party headquarters — also failed, with workers being too busy to answer the calls.
The whole mess was a terrible start for Democrats vying to replace President Trump in the White House. Memes immediately exploded across the internet, with one being repeated often: The Democrats want to run the country, but they can&#8217;t even hold a caucus in the cornfields.
For the record, the Republicans also held their caucuses in Iowa on Monday. While they garnered little media coverage, Trump blew out his primary rivals, winning more than 97% of the vote over former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh, who each came in with about 1% each.
In many ways, Trump won both caucuses. And he knew it. He took to Twitter early to needle Democrats for their pathetic efforts in Iowa.
&#8220;The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not. I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama’s previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!&#8221; Trump wrote first thing in the morning.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Democrat Party in Iowa really messed up, but the Republican Party did not. I had the largest re-election vote in the history of that great state, by far, beating President Obama’s previous record by a lot. Also, 97% Plus of the vote! Thank you Iowa!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224702718754856960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Iowa Democratic Party put out a statement early Tuesday morning saying, &#8220;We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match.&#8221; Then they added: “This is not a hack or an intrusion.”
That opened another door for Trump, who was investigated for more than two years over charges that he colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election, only to be completely exonerated.
&#8220;When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?&#8221; he wrote mockingly first thing in the morning.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
When will the Democrats start blaming RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, instead of their own incompetence for the voting disaster that just happened in the Great State of Iowa?
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224699832901799939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Trump even defended Iowa. &#8220;It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault. As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition!&#8221; he wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault. As long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition! <a href="https://t.co/bX3FLvua1C">https://t.co/bX3FLvua1C</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224685852133031936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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And the debacle has only just begun. Already there are allegations that the Democratic Party is somehow trying to derail democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had suddenly risen to the top of the polls. Once the smoke clears, there will be endless charges about the final numbers, with candidates claiming they actually won. The fact that the disastrous app was designed by former campaign officials for Hillary Clinton will only make matters worse.
Which led Trump to type out one more tweet.
&#8220;The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is &#8216;Trump,'&#8221; he wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that. The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is “Trump”.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224657196392370177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He sure got that right.

US-MEXICO-CANADA-NAFTA-TRADE-TRUMP

CURL: President Trump First Ever To Win Republican AND Democratic Caucuses In Iowa

The Iowa caucuses, the first night of the election cycle that Democratic Party voters get to cast actual votes,  has turned into a complete disaster.
As the results of Monday night&#8217;s caucuses continued to be delayed, those watching CNN caught a local Democratic Party official hanging up the phone on a distraught precinct secretary who had been on hold for almost an hour. Take a look:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
CNN got the caucus secretary from the precinct on the phone for an interview. He was on hold for over an hour, waiting to report his results. During the interview, someone picked up, but because he was talking to Wolf Blitzer, he was hung up on. Unreal. <a href="https://t.co/DZoLSpjZto">pic.twitter.com/DZoLSpjZto</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1224547913411497984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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As the clip above shows, Shawn Sebastian, a precinct secretary from Story County, joins CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer over the phone and tries to contain his palpable frustration with how the evening has unfolded.
&#8220;Shawn Sebastian is joining us right now from Story County, he’s a precinct secretary out there, what can you tell us about this delay in getting any results Shawn?&#8221; Wolf Blitzer begins.
According to Shawn, the app that the Iowa Democratic Party promoted as a means to report the election results turned out to be a complete failure.
&#8220;Well, Wolf, I have been on hold for over an hour with the Iowa Democratic Party,&#8221; a noticeably miffed Shawn tells the CNN host. &#8220;They tried to promote an app to report the results. The app, by all accounts, just doesn’t work. So we’ve been recommended to call into the hotline. And the hotline has not been responsive.&#8221;
&#8220;Have you gotten any explanation at all as to what’s going on?&#8221; responds Blitzer.
&#8220;No, I have not. I’m just waiting on hold and doing my best to report the results,&#8221; says Shawn.
It was then, after having waited for over an hour, that the Iowa Democratic Party official answered the phone. It did not go how Shawn expected.
“Hello. &#8230; They hung up on me. They hung up on me. I’ve got to get back to being on hold,&#8221; Shawn says as Wolf Blitzer expresses sympathy for his unfortunate situation.
Shawn&#8217;s frustration with the Iowa Democratic Party&#8217;s gross incompetence resulted in him reporting the election results on Twitter:
<blockquote>I am the caucus secretary for Story County Precinct 1-1. I&#8217;ve been on hold for over an hour to report the results. We have 6 delegates.
First Alignment 
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-xoduu5">Sanders &#8211; 111</div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-xoduu5">Warren- 82 
Buttigieg 47</div>
<div></div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-xoduu5">Delegates</div>
<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-xoduu5">Sanders &#8211; 2 
Warren &#8211; 2 
Buttigieg 2</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I am the caucus secretary for Story County Precinct 1-1. I&#39;ve been on hold for over an hour to report the results. We have 6 delegates
First Alignment<a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BernieSanders</a> &#8211; 111<a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ewarren</a> &#8211; 82<a href="https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeteButtigieg</a> &#8211; 47
Delegates Sanders &#8211; 2 Warren &#8211; 2 Buttigieg 2
Here&#39;s how it happened 1/
&mdash; Shawn Sebastian 🐺🐴 (@shawnsebastian) <a href="https://twitter.com/shawnsebastian/status/1224538096571686912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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On another panel, Van Jones characterized Shawn&#8217;s predicament as a &#8220;debacle.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;re just starting to tweet out their results,&#8221; said Van Jones. &#8220;This is starting to look like a debacle.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On CNN&#39;s panel, <a href="https://twitter.com/VanJones68?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VanJones68</a> says a caucus secretary from a precinct is tweeting out results as the DNC struggles to report the numbers: &quot;This is starting to look like a debacle.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9NPhJIGdGt">pic.twitter.com/9NPhJIGdGt</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1224542615724490753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Reporter Glenn Greenwald <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1224541968061075458?s=20">said about</a> the moment, &#8220;This inspires so much confidence — a caucus secretary having to report the results over Twitter because no Democratic official will take his call and he doesn’t know what else to do.
Republicans on social media largely seized the moment to troll Democrats.
&#8220;BREAKING: While Democrats can&#8217;t even figure out how to count their votes or use a simple app, [President Trump] has achieved RECORD turnout in the Iowa Caucus for an incumbent president Americans are fired up to re-elect Trump. Meanwhile Democrats are left confused. Incredible,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1224546212734390272?s=20">tweeted</a> TPUSA&#8217;s Charlie Kirk.
&#8220;The Democrats said if Trump wasn&#8217;t impeached, he would steal the election. It&#8217;s already begun. In Iowa,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1224560106747990018?s=20">tweeted</a> Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.

Wolf Blitzer

WATCH: Local Democratic Official Hangs Up On Iowa Precinct Secretary Live On CNN

In a recent phone interview with <a href="https://time.com/5776429/alexandria-ocasio-bernie-sanders-iowa/">Time</a> magazine, democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sent some shots across the bow of the Democratic National Committee, warning that they could be getting themselves into &#8220;dangerous territory in terms of defeating Trump.&#8221;
Ocasio-Cortez has been one of the most vocal supporters of fellow democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is now running neck and neck in some recent polls with longtime frontrunner Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination. With the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses finally upon us, the tension between the various candidates has escalated — and with Sanders once again outperforming expectations, he&#8217;s become the favorite target of the Democratic establishment, or at least that&#8217;s how many of his supporters see it.
While the freshman representative initially tried to downplay the increasing disunity in the party, calling it &#8220;overblown,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s comments revealed the growing concern among Sanders supporters that they are going to see a re-run of 2016, when the DNC appeared to deliberately take steps to ensure Sanders lost to establishment favorite Hillary Clinton.
&#8220;Bernie has said this, I absolutely believe this: whoever gets the nomination, we have to rally behind them, no matter who it is,&#8221; Ocasio-Cortez told Time in the interview. &#8220;And I would hope that everybody would do so if Bernie is the nominee as well.&#8221;
If they don&#8217;t, said Ocasio-Cortez, it would be a &#8220;dangerous&#8221; mistake. Also &#8220;dangerous,&#8221; would be the DNC using &#8220;superdelegate[s] or other kind of subversive policies&#8221; to undermine a candidate.
&#8220;I don’t think it’s a good idea for people to try to use superdelegate or other kind of subversive policies to deny anybody the nomination because it’s incredibly divisive to do so, and very demoralizing, which is a direct threat in November,&#8221; the far-left congresswoman warned.
&#8220;The moment you start playing games trying to deny whoever is the nominee, we really start to get into dangerous territory in terms of defeating Trump,&#8221; she said.
The use of superdelegates, which proved to be a divisive issue in 2016, with many Sanders supporters accusing the DNC of &#8220;rigging&#8221; the process to ensure a Clinton win, has come up again, with multiple reports citing Democratic insiders discussing their use, as reported Friday by <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/31/dnc-superdelegates-110083">Politico</a>:
<blockquote>
A small group of Democratic National Committee members has privately begun gauging support for a plan to potentially weaken Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign and head off a brokered convention.
In conversations on the sidelines of a DNC executive committee meeting and in telephone calls and texts in recent days, about a half-dozen members have discussed the possibility of a policy reversal to ensure that so-called superdelegates can vote on the first ballot at the party’s national convention. Such a move would increase the influence of DNC members, members of Congress and other top party officials, who now must wait until the second ballot to have their say if the convention is contested.
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Ocasio-Cortez&#8217;s reference to other &#8220;subversive policies&#8221; follows a last-second DNC debate rule change that has been met with strong outcry from supporters of several candidates. On Friday, the DNC announced that it will drop the donor quota for prospective primary debaters, a move that allows self-funded billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg, who has risen to fourth in the polls, to participate.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-moore-trump-both-blast-democratic-national-committee-for-latest-move-rigging-game-against-bernie]">Michael Moore, Trump Both Blast Democratic National Committee For Latest Move ‘Rigging’ Game Against Bernie</a>

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ocasio-Cortez: Democrats Could Get In ‘Dangerous Territory In Terms Of Defeating Trump’

Democratic Socialism

Michael Moore and President Trump can at least agree on one thing: the Democratic National Committee is up to more nefarious antics in its handling of candidates, particularly democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), whom Trump has repeatedly said is being deliberately undermined by the Democratic Party machine.
In a speech that has turned some heads for its explosive nature — and one prominent F-bomb — left-wing documentarian Michael Moore unloaded on the DNC at a pre-caucus rally for his candidate of choice, Bernie, in Iowa on Friday. Moore&#8217;s specific complaint, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-michael-moore-explodes-at-dnc-while-speaking-at-bernie-campaign-rally">The Daily Wire</a> reported, was the DNC&#8217;s new decision to remove some debate requirements, allowing self-funded billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg, who has climbed to fourth in the polls, to participate in the next debate.
&#8220;The D.N.C. announced Friday that in order to participate in the debate, set for Feb. 19 in Las Vegas, a candidate must win at least a single delegate in either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary or meet polling requirements,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/us/politics/dnc-democratic-debate-rules.html">The New York Times</a> reported Friday. &#8220;It has eliminated the requirement that candidates must have received donations from hundreds of thousands of individuals. Mr. Bloomberg, a multibillionaire, is running a self-funded campaign and is not soliciting donations.&#8221;
&#8220;They removed it so that [Bloomberg] could be in the next debate,” an enraged Moore declared at a Bernie rally in Clive, Iowa on Friday. &#8220;He doesn’t have to show he has any support amongst the American people.&#8221;
&#8220;He can just buy his way onto the debate and I got to tell what’s so disgusting about this,&#8221; Moore exclaimed. &#8220;I watched the debate in Iowa here two weeks, the all-white debate, and the fact that Democratic, the DNC will not allow Cory Booker on that stage, will not allow Julian Castro on that stage, but they’re going to allow Mike Bloomberg on the stage because he’s got a billion f***ing dollars!&#8221;
<iframe title="Michael Moore Explodes: DNC Letting Bloomberg Debate Because ‘He Has a Billion F*cking Dollars’" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQcZ7P7d_NY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Following a trend dating back since early reports of the DNC torpedoing Sanders in 2016 in favor of Hillary Clinton, Trump posted a series of tweets over the weekend hitting the committee for its treatment of the Vermont senator, who has recently surpassed longtime frontrunner Joe Biden in some polls.
&#8220;Many of the ads you are watching were paid for by Mini Mike Bloomberg. He is going nowhere, just wasting his money, but he is getting the DNC to rig the election against Crazy Bernie, something they wouldn’t do for [Cory Booker] and others,&#8221; Trump said, echoing Moore&#8217;s complaint. &#8220;They are doing it to Bernie again, 2016.&#8221;
&#8220;Mini Mike is now negotiating both to get on the Democrat Primary debate stage, and to have the right to stand on boxes, or a lift, during the debates,&#8221; Trump added in a follow-up post. &#8220;This is sometimes done, but really not fair!&#8221;
Trump continued to hit the issue of the DNC &#8220;rigging&#8221; the game against Sanders on Monday morning in a post quoting &#8220;Fox and Friends&#8221; co-host Steve Doocy: &#8220;The DNC on Bernie Sanders, &#8216;Looks like they’re going to do it to him again, doesn’t it?'&#8221;
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Many of the ads you are watching were paid for by Mini Mike Bloomberg. He is going nowhere, just wasting his money, but he is getting the DNC to rig the election against Crazy Bernie, something they wouldn’t do for <a href="https://twitter.com/CoryBooker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoryBooker</a> and others. They are doing it to Bernie again, 2016.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223837731056427009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Mini Mike is now negotiating both to get on the Democrat Primary debate stage, and to have the right to stand on boxes, or a lift, during the debates. This is sometimes done, but really not fair!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1223839756234215424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The DNC on Bernie Sanders, “Looks like they’re going to do it to him again, doesn’t it?” <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveDoocy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SteveDoocy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1224317265702801408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bloomberg-fuming-over-trumps-attacks-on-his-height-already-has-revenge-plan-report-says">Bloomberg ‘Fuming’ Over Trump’s Attacks On His Height, Already Has Revenge Plan, Report Says</a>
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Michael Moore

Michael Moore, Trump Both Blast Democratic National Committee For Latest Move ‘Rigging’ Game Against Bernie

Members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have reportedly started discussing the implementation of a plan aimed at harming Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a socialist, in hopes of derailing his campaign.
&#8220;In conversations on the sidelines of a DNC executive committee meeting and in telephone calls and texts in recent days, about a half-dozen members have discussed the possibility of a policy reversal to ensure that so-called superdelegates can vote on the first ballot at the party’s national convention,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/31/dnc-superdelegates-110083">reported</a>. &#8220;Such a move would increase the influence of DNC members, members of Congress and other top party officials, who now must wait until the second ballot to have their say if the convention is contested.&#8221;
Politico noted that it’s an uphill battle for those who want the rule change, but that &#8220;the talks reveal the extent of angst that many establishment Democrats are feeling on the eve of the Iowa caucuses.&#8221;
&#8220;The decision to relegate superdelegates – now called &#8216;automatic delegates&#8217; – to the second ballot in a contested convention consumed the DNC for nearly two years after the 2016 election. Superdelegates overwhelmingly sided with Hillary Clinton, infuriating Sanders’ supporters,&#8221; Politico added. &#8220;The rule change was widely viewed as a major victory for the Democratic Party’s left flank. At the time, Perez called the delegate overhaul &#8216;historic,&#8217; while progressive Democrats and many moderates lauded its appeal to young voters skeptical of centralized party power.&#8221;
The Democrat Party has already started to put its thumb on the scales with new rules that it announced that favored Democrat billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/us/politics/dnc-democratic-debate-rules.html">reported</a>:
<blockquote>The D.N.C. announced Friday that in order to participate in the debate, set for Feb. 19 in Las Vegas, a candidate must win at least a single delegate in either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary or meet polling requirements.
It has eliminated the requirement that candidates must have received donations from hundreds of thousands of individuals. Mr. Bloomberg, a multibillionaire, is running a self-funded campaign and is not soliciting donations.
The changes, which represent the most significant tightening of debate requirements this cycle, set off a fresh and pointed round of criticism at a critical moment in the race, as several campaigns braced for the reality check that the Iowa caucuses will provide. And the edict from party officials, which some saw as a concession to Mr. Bloomberg, quickly reignited concerns among those who believe the D.N.C.’s shifting rules for the debates privilege some candidates and campaigns over others.</blockquote>
The Sanders campaign responded by telling The New York Times: “To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong. That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just before jumping into the race, <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeBloomberg</a> gave $325,000 to the DNC, on top of the gobs he spent on ads this month. Totally normal system. <a href="https://t.co/u4JDelWb7H">pic.twitter.com/u4JDelWb7H</a>
&mdash; Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) <a href="https://twitter.com/ryangrim/status/1223337638691856385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Failed far-left Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein responded to Politico&#8217;s report by <a href="http://archive.is/fKvm7">writing</a> on Twitter: &#8220;Desperate DNC members consider rule change to let superdelegates vote on 1st ballot to stop Sanders. If the DNC rigs another election against its voters, it’ll be asking for biggest #DemExit yet by those who want an actually democratic party. #DNCRigging&#8221;
Dave Wasserman, U.S. House editor of the non-partisan Cook Political Report, <a href="http://archive.is/HBDBu">wrote</a>: &#8220;Yeah, this is going to end well.&#8221;
Left-wing journalist Ben Norton <a href="http://archive.is/nVybW">wrote</a>: &#8220;After rigging the primary in 2016 and stealing numerous states from Bernie Sanders, a small group of unelected corporate-funded DNC elites are plotting to steal the election from him again, reversing the policy to give unelected superdelegates more power.&#8221;
New York Times columnist Elizabeth Bruenig <a href="http://archive.is/wip/d4CKC">wrote</a>: &#8220;they&#8217;re going to throw it to trump, but that&#8217;s alright with them, because he&#8217;s not going to raise their taxes&#8221;
This is a developing news story, refresh the page for updates.

Sen. Bernie Sanders Holds Roundtable Discussion On Water Contamination

DNC Members Discuss Changing Rules To Stop Sanders From Getting Nomination At Convention, Report Says

Far-left filmmaker and activist Michael Moore exploded on Friday in Iowa at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) while discussing how the Democratic Party removed debate requirements to allow Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg to appear during the next party debate.
“They removed it so that he could be in the next debate,” Moore yelled. “He doesn’t have to show he has any support amongst the American people.”
“He can just buy his way onto the debate and I got to tell what’s so disgusting about this,” Moore continued. “I watched the debate in Iowa here two weeks, the all-white debate, and the fact that Democratic, the DNC will not allow Cory Booker on that stage, will not allow Julian Castro on that stage, but they’re going to allow Mike Bloomberg on the stage because he’s got a billion f***ing dollars!”
WATCH:
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Michael Moore (<a href="https://twitter.com/MMFlint?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MMFlint</a>) explodes at the <a href="https://twitter.com/DNC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DNC</a> just now at a Bernie rally in Clive, Iowa: “The DNC will not allow Cory Booker on that stage, will not allow Julian Castro … but they’re going to allow Mike Bloomberg because HE HAS A BILLION F*CKING DOLLARS?!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/76ChQRsKgN">pic.twitter.com/76ChQRsKgN</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1223413799551741959?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Moore&#8217;s outburst came after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that it was changing the debate rules in a manner that benefited Bloomberg.
The New York Times reported:
<blockquote>The D.N.C. announced Friday that in order to participate in the debate, set for Feb. 19 in Las Vegas, a candidate must win at least a single delegate in either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary or meet polling requirements.
It has eliminated the requirement that candidates must have received donations from hundreds of thousands of individuals. Mr. Bloomberg, a multibillionaire, is running a self-funded campaign and is not soliciting donations.
The changes, which represent the most significant tightening of debate requirements this cycle, set off a fresh and pointed round of criticism at a critical moment in the race, as several campaigns braced for the reality check that the Iowa caucuses will provide. And the edict from party officials, which some saw as a concession to Mr. Bloomberg, quickly reignited concerns among those who believe the D.N.C.’s shifting rules for the debates privilege some candidates and campaigns over others.</blockquote>
Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey responded to the changes by saying, “We are thrilled that voters could soon have the chance to see Mike Bloomberg on the debate stage, hear his vision for the country, and see why he is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country together. Mike has run for office three times and never taken a dime from special interests, allowing him to act independently, on the merits, without having to do what donors expect. He is proud to be doing the same with this campaign.”
The Sanders campaign responded by telling The New York Times: “To now change the rules in the middle of the game to accommodate Mike Bloomberg, who is trying to buy his way into the Democratic nomination, is wrong. That’s the definition of a rigged system.”
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren responded in a similar manner, writing on Twitter, &#8220;The DNC didn’t change the rules to ensure good, diverse candidates could remain on the debate stage. They shouldn’t change the rules to let a billionaire on. Billionaires shouldn&#8217;t be allowed to play by different rules—on the debate stage, in our democracy, or in our government.&#8221;
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The DNC didn’t change the rules to ensure good, diverse candidates could remain on the debate stage. They shouldn’t change the rules to let a billionaire on. Billionaires shouldn&#39;t be allowed to play by different rules—on the debate stage, in our democracy, or in our government.
&mdash; Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) <a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1223389175468249088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
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