DeSantis Campaign, Allies Declare Early Call In Iowa ‘Election Interference’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) presidential campaign is complaining of “election interference” after multiple mainstream media outlets called the Iowa Caucuses for former president and current GOP primary frontrunner Donald Trump very early in the night.

The race was called for Trump less than an hour into the Iowa Caucuses with just 1% of the vote in, with media outlets asserting that Trump had received such a massive outpouring of support that his victory was clear.

Trump ended up with a landslide victory, winning 98 out of Iowa’s 99 counties and garnering 51% of the vote overall. DeSantis came in second place with 21% of the vote, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) received 19% of the vote and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received 7% of the vote. Ramaswamy ended up dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump.

Meanwhile, DeSantis, his campaign and his supporters have begun whining about supposed “election interference” — claiming that calling the race early for Trump had discouraged caucus-goers.

“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,” DeSantis’ communications director Andrew Romeo complained in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He went on to try to claim that the “media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet.”

“When Fox sent out this ‘breaking news’ people in the precinct I was monitoring in Des Moines were still speaking and had not even cast votes. Corporate media election interference,” Team DeSantis rapid response director Christina Pushaw claimed.

Many analysts and commentators have been inclined to agree that such an early call likely had some effect on the results, but not enough to make a significant dent in Trump’s 30-point lead over DeSantis.

“There is a major distinction between the AP calling Iowa early for Trump and Fox News calling Arizona early for Biden. Trump won Iowa by 30 points. He’s ahead by about 30,000 votes. Biden ‘won’ Arizona by 0.4 points, and it’s still disputed to this day. There’s no comparison,” Revolver News explained in a post on X.

Meanwhile, some commentators have pointed out the irony of DeSantis and his team’s statements, considering the fact that the Florida governor previously told reporters that Trump would be the one blaming election interference if he lost Iowa.
“If Trump loses, he will say it’s stolen no matter what, absolutely,” DeSantis said during a campaign stop in December.

Commentators have also pointed out that the media’s early call could have just as easily been an attempt to discourage Trump voters.

“Its absurd to claim the media calling the race for Trump early was interference against DeSantis In fact it was interference against Trump Telling Trump voters before even voting that he already won? That would entice them to leave and NOT vote,” argued journalist Tim Pool.

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