Following a call by the Associated Press that former President Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses on Monday night, a spokesman for Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign accused the media of “election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote.”
“The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet,” the spokesman said.
The race was called by the AP at 8:31pm ET, less than an hour after voting began. By 9:53pm ET, the AP estimated 38% of the votes counted, with Trump receiving 52.8% of the votes. DeSantis was in second place with 20% of the estimated votes, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was in third place with 18.7%. Vivek Ramaswamy garnered 7.7%.
Following the announcement of victory by various networks, Trump told Fox News Digital that he was “greatly honored by such an early call.”
“It really is an honor that, minutes after, they’ve announced I’ve won – against very credible competition – great competition, actually,” Trump said.
The attention of the candidates will now turn to the New Hampshire primary, scheduled for Jan. 23.
