DeSantis Campaign Accuses Media for Allegedly Violating Policies by Calling Iowa Before Voting Ends
Ron DeSantis, the Republican presidential candidate's campaign, has accused the media of "election interference" for prematurely calling the Iowa caucus in favor of former President Donald Trump. The controversy erupted when, just 30 minutes into the caucus and with only 1% of votes counted, CNN declared Trump the winner. Shortly after CNN's early declaration, other prominent news networks, such as Fox News, the Associated Press (AP), and CBS News, swiftly echoed the call for Trump as the winner of the Iowa caucus.
DeSantis staffer Andrew Romeo expressed outrage at the media's swift declaration, stating, "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." Accusing media bias in favor of Trump, DeSantis staffer Andrew Romeo labeled the early call "the most egregious example yet."
On social media, Matt Wolking, the strategic communications director for the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, aimed at CNN, alleging a breach of the network's own editorial policy. Wolking pointed out that CNN called Trump the winner at 8:30 p.m. ET, even before a significant portion of the state had commenced voting. He quoted a 2008 CNN article that highlighted the network's policy of strictly prohibiting the reporting of winners or characterizing the outcome of a statewide contest before all polls are scheduled to close in every precinct in that state.
"AP has a policy not to call 'the winner of a race before all the polls in a jurisdiction are scheduled to close.' Tonight AP/CNN/Etc. called the race after the caucus doors closed, but BEFORE all votes were cast," Wolking tweeted. David Weigel from Semafor also weighed in on the controversy, referring to the early network call as "a little questionable." He expressed concerns about people still being at caucus sites and having access to phones, questioning how many might have seen the premature call and decided to abstain from voting.
In the most recent update, 40% of the votes in Iowa have been tallied, revealing that Trump is in the lead with 52.5% of the vote, securing over 27,000 votes. DeSantis is trailing in second place with 20% of the vote, securing nearly 10,500 votes. The controversy surrounding the early media call continues to unfold, with the DeSantis campaign maintaining that such premature declarations impact the democratic process, potentially influencing voters still in the process of casting their ballots. Previously, DeSantis claimed during a debate that, “It’s wrong to tell a kindergartener like Disney wanted to do that you can change your gender or a third grader that you are born in the wrong body. I stood and fought for the kids. We took on Disney, and we defeated that, and we won that fight, and our kids are better off."
