Senator Bernie Sanders became the second Democrat to declare himself the winner of the Iowa caucus Thursday; echoing comments made by Mayor Pete Buttigieg after days of confusion surrounding the vote count and pledged delegates.
“We are holding a press conference that should have occurred three nights ago in Des Moines, Iowa, but for the inability of the Iowa Democratic Party to count votes in a timely fashion. That screw-up has been extremely unfair for the people of Iowa, it has been unfair to the candidates, and all of their supporters,” said Sanders.
.@BernieSanders declares victory three days after the Iowa caucuses. pic.twitter.com/iqnfiSG3mO
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 6, 2020
“I’d like to thank the people of Iowa for the very strong victory they gave us at the Iowa Caucuses on Monday night. Even though the tabulations have been extremely slow, we’re now at a point where our campaign is winning the popular initial vote,” he added.
The official “winner” of the Iowa Caucus is calculated -not by the popular vote- but by the number of pledged delegates across the state.
Watch Sen. Sanders’ comments above.
36 HOURS LATER: Iowa Chaos Continues, Results Still Unclear, 71% Reporting, Buttigieg Slightly Ahead of Bernie
Roughly 36 hours after the completion of the Iowa Caucus, just 71% of the results have been released by the Democratic Party; showing South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg slightly ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders.
With less than three quarters of the vote tallied, Pete Buttigieg leads with 26.8% of the state’s delegates, followed by Bernie Sanders with 25.2%, Elizabeth Warren with 18.4%, Joe Biden at 15.4%, and Amy Klobuchar at 12.6%.
As the finger-pointing between Democratic voters, local party officials, and the DNC over the disastrous Iowa Caucus continues, far-left magazine ‘Mother Jones’ found a unique target for the debacle: Mitch McConnell.
With barely any information and zero results released from the Democratic Party, Mother Jones was quick to name the Senate Majority Leader as the true culprit.
“Let’s not forget: Mitch McConnell has steadfastly refused to allow meaningful election security legislation to reach the Senate floor while stymieing most related funding, arguing new laws or mandates would be an overstep of federal power,” posted the progressive magazine on social media.
Let's not forget: Mitch McConnell has steadfastly refused to allow meaningful election security legislation to reach the Senate floor while stymieing most related funding, arguing new laws or mandates would be an overstep of federal power. https://t.co/SX71FGIMjW
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) February 4, 2020
So the fiasco in Iowa is… McConnell's fault. https://t.co/cC4Qqjst3c
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) February 4, 2020
Ah yes, the main culprit behind the Democratic party’s Iowa caucus disaster is *checks notes* Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. https://t.co/97VRj0DYtK
— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) February 4, 2020
“So the fiasco in Iowa is… McConnell’s fault,” posted The Hill’s Joe Concha on Twitter.
CAUCUS CHAOS: Watch Democrats ‘Flip a Coin’ to Decide Which Candidate Wins a Delegate
Recently released footage on social media is shedding new light on the full-scale meltdown that occurred during Monday night’s Iowa Caucus; showing officials “flipping a coin” to determine which candidate receives a delegate.
“In some cases, Iowa is leaving the Democratic caucuses up to chance. In the case of a tie during Monday night’s caucuses, the state is resorting to an old-fashioned coin flip to decide which candidates win delegates. A couple have already occurred,” reports The Week.
Buttigieg and Warren tie. Coin toss about to happen pic.twitter.com/fJVqDDN5pS
— John Pemble (@johnpemble) February 4, 2020
Final count:
Pete – 44
Biden – 31
Bernie – 31
Amy – 29Pete picks up most people from 1st to 2nd round. Amy back from the dead. Biden and Bernie now settling tie through ancient democratic practice of a coin flip. pic.twitter.com/Nwz2feXF4t
— Eric Lach (@ericlach) February 4, 2020
“This is nothing new — in 2016, Hillary Clinton won all six of her Iowa caucus coin tosses. The current candidates are surely hoping they have that kind of luck,” adds the website.
Read the full report here.