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| Iowa caucus result: Buttigieg and Sanders both claim victory – live | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| First race of the Democratic primary season still too close to call, as Sanders says: ‘I think we should move on to New Hampshire’ | First race of the Democratic primary season still too close to call, as Sanders says: ‘I think we should move on to New Hampshire’ |
| It’s been a rollercoaster week in US politics, starting with the voting debacle in Iowa on Monday and carrying on through Donald Trump’s divisive State of the Union speech and his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial. But who are the losers and winners from a dramatic few days for Republicans and Democrats? | |
| 5/5: Donald Trump | 5/5: Donald Trump |
| A swaggering and aggressive US president called his speech at the White House on Thursday a “celebration” – and well he might. He was coming to the end of a week in which he had spent 80 minutes making the case for his re-election on primetime TV in his State of the Union speech and had been acquitted in his impeachment trial – with only one Republican breaking ranks to vote against him. A Gallup poll put the president’s approval rating at 49%, the highest level for that survey since 2017, and on top of that the Democratic primary race got off to a disastrously shambolic start in Iowa. Holding up a newspaper front page that said “Trump acquitted”, the president told his White House crowd: “Let me take that home; maybe we’ll frame it. It’s the only good headline I’ve ever had in the Washington Post.” His speech sounded like a preview of the one he plans to make on 4 November after winning the election. | A swaggering and aggressive US president called his speech at the White House on Thursday a “celebration” – and well he might. He was coming to the end of a week in which he had spent 80 minutes making the case for his re-election on primetime TV in his State of the Union speech and had been acquitted in his impeachment trial – with only one Republican breaking ranks to vote against him. A Gallup poll put the president’s approval rating at 49%, the highest level for that survey since 2017, and on top of that the Democratic primary race got off to a disastrously shambolic start in Iowa. Holding up a newspaper front page that said “Trump acquitted”, the president told his White House crowd: “Let me take that home; maybe we’ll frame it. It’s the only good headline I’ve ever had in the Washington Post.” His speech sounded like a preview of the one he plans to make on 4 November after winning the election. |
| 4/5: Pete Buttigieg | 4/5: Pete Buttigieg |
| If anyone managed to wring any momentum out of the mess in Iowa, it was the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who more or less declared victory before the results were in and went on to grab as much of the spotlight as possible. Did he even win? With almost 100% of the vote in, Buttigieg is only 0.09% ahead of socialist rival Bernie Sanders in the delegate count, and Sanders is ahead of the young pretender in the popular vote. But the veteran Vermont senator will now have to wait until New Hampshire next week to grab his share of the glory. | If anyone managed to wring any momentum out of the mess in Iowa, it was the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who more or less declared victory before the results were in and went on to grab as much of the spotlight as possible. Did he even win? With almost 100% of the vote in, Buttigieg is only 0.09% ahead of socialist rival Bernie Sanders in the delegate count, and Sanders is ahead of the young pretender in the popular vote. But the veteran Vermont senator will now have to wait until New Hampshire next week to grab his share of the glory. |
| 3/5: Mike Bloomberg | 3/5: Mike Bloomberg |
| The billionaire former mayor of New York’s decision to sit out the early states and instead blanket California with advertising seems partially vindicated. With the usual momentum conferred on the winner of Iowa blunted, a strong showing from Bloomberg in the array of states voting on Super Tuesday (3 March) is bound to launch a thousand think-pieces asking whether Bloomberg can elbow aside Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg and unite the centre. Feel queasy about a rich man buying the race? Bloomberg has an answer. “Someone said, ‘Are you spending too much money?’ and I said, ‘I’m spending money to get rid of Donald Trump.’ And the guy said, ‘Spend more.’ ” | The billionaire former mayor of New York’s decision to sit out the early states and instead blanket California with advertising seems partially vindicated. With the usual momentum conferred on the winner of Iowa blunted, a strong showing from Bloomberg in the array of states voting on Super Tuesday (3 March) is bound to launch a thousand think-pieces asking whether Bloomberg can elbow aside Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg and unite the centre. Feel queasy about a rich man buying the race? Bloomberg has an answer. “Someone said, ‘Are you spending too much money?’ and I said, ‘I’m spending money to get rid of Donald Trump.’ And the guy said, ‘Spend more.’ ” |
| 2/5: Joe Biden | 2/5: Joe Biden |
| Barack Obama’s former vice-president went into the week as the frontrunner in the Democratic race and still leads most national polls and match-ups with Trump. But coming fourth in Iowa – a result he called a gut-punch – has seriously dented his pitch that he is the most electable candidate. If he underperforms again in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden could find supporters and donors abandoning him for Buttigieg or Bloomberg. | Barack Obama’s former vice-president went into the week as the frontrunner in the Democratic race and still leads most national polls and match-ups with Trump. But coming fourth in Iowa – a result he called a gut-punch – has seriously dented his pitch that he is the most electable candidate. If he underperforms again in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Biden could find supporters and donors abandoning him for Buttigieg or Bloomberg. |
| 1/5: Nancy Pelosi | 1/5: Nancy Pelosi |
| The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives took a lot of persuading to agree to impeach Trump, only doing so when the strength of the evidence in the Ukraine case became overwhelming. She initiated the process knowing it was almost certain Trump would be acquitted, but hoping to put his impeachment on the record for posterity, gum up his legislative agenda, and damage him ahead of this November’s election. She has succeeded on the first two points, but the latter is very much up for debate. And on top of that, Pelosi – usually so poised in her dealings with Trump – risked losing the moral high ground when she tore up her copy of his State of the Union speech on live TV, leading secretary of state Mike Pompeo to liken her to Lisa Simpson. (Critics said he hadn’t understood the episode.) | The leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives took a lot of persuading to agree to impeach Trump, only doing so when the strength of the evidence in the Ukraine case became overwhelming. She initiated the process knowing it was almost certain Trump would be acquitted, but hoping to put his impeachment on the record for posterity, gum up his legislative agenda, and damage him ahead of this November’s election. She has succeeded on the first two points, but the latter is very much up for debate. And on top of that, Pelosi – usually so poised in her dealings with Trump – risked losing the moral high ground when she tore up her copy of his State of the Union speech on live TV, leading secretary of state Mike Pompeo to liken her to Lisa Simpson. (Critics said he hadn’t understood the episode.) |
| 0/5: The state of Iowa | 0/5: The state of Iowa |
| Iowa was already facing criticism that as a small, 90% white, largely rural state it had a disproportionate impact on the Democratic race even before Monday’s debacle, in which apps failed and telephone lines were overwhelmed, meaning that even by Friday Democrats were unable to say who had won the first contest of primary season. In the results the party eventually released, vote tallies did not add up, and figures contained inconsistencies and errors, according to the New York Times, leading the national party chair to demand a review “to assure public confidence in the results”. Conspiracy theories raged that the party was deliberately sabotaging Sanders’ chances – and the Trump campaign gleefully fanned the flames. If the Iowa state party had deliberately set out to undermine its own place in the primary hierarchy it couldn’t have done better than this. | Iowa was already facing criticism that as a small, 90% white, largely rural state it had a disproportionate impact on the Democratic race even before Monday’s debacle, in which apps failed and telephone lines were overwhelmed, meaning that even by Friday Democrats were unable to say who had won the first contest of primary season. In the results the party eventually released, vote tallies did not add up, and figures contained inconsistencies and errors, according to the New York Times, leading the national party chair to demand a review “to assure public confidence in the results”. Conspiracy theories raged that the party was deliberately sabotaging Sanders’ chances – and the Trump campaign gleefully fanned the flames. If the Iowa state party had deliberately set out to undermine its own place in the primary hierarchy it couldn’t have done better than this. |
| Donald Trump has been tweeting his support for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as Beijing struggles to deal with the coronavirus (you can read the latest on that here). | Donald Trump has been tweeting his support for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as Beijing struggles to deal with the coronavirus (you can read the latest on that here). |
| China is reportedly worried about what the virus means for its ability to stick to the terms of its new trade agreements with the US, and some officials are apparently angry at Washington’s travel restrictions and commerce secretary Wilbur Ross’s comment that the outbreak “will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America”. | China is reportedly worried about what the virus means for its ability to stick to the terms of its new trade agreements with the US, and some officials are apparently angry at Washington’s travel restrictions and commerce secretary Wilbur Ross’s comment that the outbreak “will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America”. |
| Who has won the Iowa caucuses? We still don’t know. | Who has won the Iowa caucuses? We still don’t know. |
| With almost 100% of the vote in, former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is only 0.09% ahead of socialist rival Bernie Sanders in the delegate count, while Sanders is ahead of the young pretender in the popular vote. | With almost 100% of the vote in, former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is only 0.09% ahead of socialist rival Bernie Sanders in the delegate count, while Sanders is ahead of the young pretender in the popular vote. |
| The Associated Press says it is still too close to call. | The Associated Press says it is still too close to call. |
| Both Buttigieg and Sanders claimed victory last night. | Both Buttigieg and Sanders claimed victory last night. |
| CNN asked the centrist former mayor for his reaction to the latest tally. “That’s fantastic news, to hear that we won,” Buttigieg said. | CNN asked the centrist former mayor for his reaction to the latest tally. “That’s fantastic news, to hear that we won,” Buttigieg said. |
| Meanwhile, Sanders pumped out social media posts baldly claiming “Bernie wins Iowa” – and basing that in the small print on his lead in the popular vote. “We did very well,” Sanders told CNN. “We won in Iowa.” | Meanwhile, Sanders pumped out social media posts baldly claiming “Bernie wins Iowa” – and basing that in the small print on his lead in the popular vote. “We did very well,” Sanders told CNN. “We won in Iowa.” |
| In truth, it’s probably accurate to call Iowa a draw. The Democratic race will be decided based on the number of delegates won, and both Buttigieg and Sanders will probably come out of Iowa with the same number. | In truth, it’s probably accurate to call Iowa a draw. The Democratic race will be decided based on the number of delegates won, and both Buttigieg and Sanders will probably come out of Iowa with the same number. |
| That said, Sanders went in to the contest as the narrow favourite, so in terms of perception and momentum it has probably been a win for the former mayor. | That said, Sanders went in to the contest as the narrow favourite, so in terms of perception and momentum it has probably been a win for the former mayor. |
| The winner certainly wasn’t the Iowa Democratic party. National party chair Tom Perez called for a “recanvass” of the tally on Thursday. “A recanvass is a review of the worksheets from each caucus site to ensure accuracy,” he explained after some confusion about that. He later said he was only calling for a recanvass in certain sites. | The winner certainly wasn’t the Iowa Democratic party. National party chair Tom Perez called for a “recanvass” of the tally on Thursday. “A recanvass is a review of the worksheets from each caucus site to ensure accuracy,” he explained after some confusion about that. He later said he was only calling for a recanvass in certain sites. |
| To add to the confusion, AP reported that “it was unclear if the party planned to follow the directive of the national leader to recanvass those results … Iowa chairman Troy Price suggested in a statement Thursday that he would only pursue a recanvass if one was requested by a campaign.” | To add to the confusion, AP reported that “it was unclear if the party planned to follow the directive of the national leader to recanvass those results … Iowa chairman Troy Price suggested in a statement Thursday that he would only pursue a recanvass if one was requested by a campaign.” |
| “We’ve got enough of Iowa,” Sanders told CNN on Thursday night. “I think we should move on to New Hampshire.” | “We’ve got enough of Iowa,” Sanders told CNN on Thursday night. “I think we should move on to New Hampshire.” |
| That contest is on Tuesday and uses a conventional voting system. | That contest is on Tuesday and uses a conventional voting system. |
| Also today: | Also today: |
| 8.30am ET (1.30pm): The monthly US jobs report will be released | 8.30am ET (1.30pm): The monthly US jobs report will be released |
| 1pm ET: Trump will speak at the North Carolina Opportunity Now Summit. He will later speak at the Republican Governors Association Finance Dinner in Washington | 1pm ET: Trump will speak at the North Carolina Opportunity Now Summit. He will later speak at the Republican Governors Association Finance Dinner in Washington |
| 8pm ET: Democratic candidates will take part in a debate in New Hampshire | 8pm ET: Democratic candidates will take part in a debate in New Hampshire |