Just 31 minutes after the Iowa caucuses began, the Associated Press already had its final results: a victory for former President Donald Trump. The early call ignited a firestorm of criticism from Trump’s opponents and even some Democrats who questioned the decision.
Several other major news outlets called the election in Trump’s favor shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time before some voters even had the chance to cast their ballots at their local precinct. The call sparked outrage among some candidates’ campaigns who argued the call amounted to “election interference” that disenfranchised voters who waited in line in the freezing to choose their preferred nominee.
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“It is absolutely outrageous that the media would participate in election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote,” Andrew Romeo, communications director for the DeSantis campaign, said in a statement. “The media is in the tank for Trump, and this is the most egregious example yet.”
Some DeSantis campaign staffers said several voters were still in line and hadn’t even heard final candidate speeches when the news alert was sent out declaring Trump’s victory.
“What happened tonight is appalling– the media calling the race for Donald Trump before votes had been cast. I personally spoke in multiple precincts in front of hundreds of voters. And while I’m presenting and delivering the closing arguments around just for Ron DeSantis, and actually flipping voters, people start getting alerts on their phone saying the race is over before they’ve even” voted, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier told NBC News. “That is absurd.”
Even some Democrats pushed back against the outlet’s decision to call the race so early, criticizing that the results appeared to come in before the caucuses even began in some portions of the state.
“Oh come on you cannot call a race before the voting is over, let alone before it starts,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
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The Associated Press defended its decision later in the night, arguing it projected his victory based on an analysis of early ballot returns as well as survey results of voters who planned to attend the caucuses.
“Both showed Trump with an insurmountable lead,” the outlet said.
