CNN | Fox News | MSNBC | NewsNation | Politics

News Networks Criticized for Early Iowa Caucus Calls

By Mark Mwachiro 

Donald Trump winning the Iowa Republican caucuses was a foregone conclusion, but how quickly several news organizations made the call has sparked outrage in some circles.

The caucus began at 8 p.m. ET, but U.S. news networks, as well as the Associated Press, called it for Trump about a half hour later despite many Iowans either still casting their vote or about to vote.

The networks’ seemingly quick call of the caucus in Trump’s favor led Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley campaign staffers as well as some voters to believe that such an announcement could influence the decision of those who had still yet to vote.

Caucuses are different from typical elections in that all who intend to vote need to be present at the caucus at 7 p.m. CT. That’s when the doors close, and according to the AP, they consider this to be the same equivalence as the closing of a poll.

CNN was the first to call the 2024 Iowa Caucuses for Trump, even before the AP. The network, alongside several other major TV networks, relied on an entrance poll conducted by Edison Research. A CNN executive who spoke to the New York Times said the network had enough data collected to make the call as early as 8 p.m. ET, but decided to hold off until all voters were inside the caucus sites.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper defended the network’s decision on-air, saying Trump’s victory was “based on his overwhelming lead in our entrance poll of Iowa caucus-goers and some initial votes that are coming in.”

Other news networks quickly followed CNN in calling the election for Trump, with Fox News’ Bret Baier explaining to viewers that “When the doors closed for the caucuses, that is the official time to be able to characterize the race.” He added, “There’s a lot of controversy around it because people were inside and obviously had their phones, but that is how the rules go for Iowa.”

MSNBC called the race for Trump a minute or so after Fox and CNN.

NewsNation called the Iowa Caucus for Trump about 15 minutes after the big three had (8:47 p.m. ET). Primetime host Chris Cuomo explained the network’s decision to wait a bit longer, saying, “Now, if you’re flipping around, you will see that other organizations are calling the caucuses already. That makes sense. However, it is not about who wins. That would have been a shocker if it were going any other way. It’s about, ‘what is the margin?’ ‘Does the former President break Bush’s record?’ If so, how did he do it? ‘And does Haley Sununu’s trying to lower expectations? No. Haley has huge expectations tonight. She’s got to show that she can threaten Trump. All the polls show she, not DeSantis, has a break with Trump favorability Trump’s numbers are almost 50/50 With DeSantis voters. He’s like 70/25 with Haley voters so this is a night to measure any real resistance to the former president. It matters so we’re going to stay on it because the margins will matter. And there’s a lot of caucusing yet to be done. At least the counting part and that’s the part that matters.”

Iowa’s GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann put out a statement saying, “Media outlets calling the results of the 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus less than half an hour after precinct caucuses had been called to order – before the overwhelming majority of lowans had even cast their ballot – was highly disappointing and concerning.”

Meanwhile, CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil on CBS Mornings On Tuesday echoed the complaints posed by those objecting to the early call, saying, “There’s got to be a better way.” Dokoupil, who was co-anchoring out of Iowa, said that at the caucus site where he was stationed on Monday night, the early results projected by the news networks were not well received as voters had not cast their ballots and “just all the energy drained out of the room.”

Advertisement