After recently losing handily to former President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) accused mainstream media outlets of “election interference” for projecting Trump as the winner early.
DeSantis, who outspent the former president in Iowa, garnered just 21% of the vote in the caucuses, compared to the former president, who received a whopping 51% support.
Shortly after the Iowa caucuses began, the Associated Press (AP), CNN, Fox News and several other news outlets declared Trump the winner, despite not all votes being counted.
As a result, DeSantis’ presidential campaign claimed the mainstream media was interfering in the election since not all caucuses had finished.
“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,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo said. “The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet.”
Several DeSantis supporters echoed Romeo’s criticism on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“People are telling me phones got Fox News alerts Trump won before they even voted,” conservative commentator Steve Deace wrote on X. “Just criminal levels of voter suppression.”
“With ‘friends’ like Fox, who needs, CNN?” Deace added.
“Calling a race before votes have been cast IS election interference,” X user Kayleigh said.
Calling a race before votes have been cast IS election interference.
— Kayleigh 🇺🇸 (@FLAKayleigh) January 16, 2024
Trump won 98 counties in Iowa and defeated DeSantis by 30 percentage points despite the Florida governor being endorsed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R).
Before losing in the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis told a crowd of supporters that they would never experience an election “as meaningful as this one is going to be.” The Florida governor ignored polls showing he would lose to the former president in The Hawkeye State.
“They can throw a blizzard at us, and we are gonna fight. They can throw wind chill at us, and we are gonna fight,” DeSantis told supporters on Jan. 13, 2024. “They can throw media narratives at us, and we are gonna fight. They can throw fake polls at us, and we are gonna right. We are going to fight because we are going to turn this country around.”
