Fox News Angers DeSantis Supporters With ‘Disgusting’ Iowa Call

Fox News earned the ire of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ supporters after the network called Iowa for former President Donald Trump roughly 30 minutes after the caucuses began and before all the votes had been tallied.

Fox News, like other major media outlets, including the Associated Press, CNN and MSNBC, all called the race in the Hawkeye State early on Monday night, within the first half hour of the caucuses. Trump went on to win Iowa in a landslide, securing 51 percent of the vote and declaring victory in all but one of the state’s 99 counties, but the decision frustrated many supporters of DeSantis, who placed second with just over 21 percent of the vote.

“The Fox News decision desk can now project that former President Donald Trump will win the Iowa caucuses,” anchors Martha MacCallum and Brett Baier announced at 8:33 p.m. ET. “He will take the lion’s share of the state’s 40 delegates. This result really solidifies his place as the current frontrunner for the nomination.”

Fox correspondent Brit Hume explained on air Monday night that people are often worried about calling races too soon because, in some cases, like the general election, there are people who haven’t voted, and thus, calling the race could deter those voters from casting their ballot entirely. But because everyone is voting at once in Iowa, there shouldn’t be concerns about calling the race earlier than people would expect in a general election.

“But we are talking here about people who come out on a cold night together at a caucus site, the doors are closed, and nobody can get in, so the opportunity to vote remains,” Hume said. “It’s hard to believe very many people would say, ‘oh, my goodness, the race has been called, I’m going home.’ I don’t think so. The impact of it seems that the premise is doubtful.”

Nonetheless, the decision frustrated DeSantis supporters who argued that the call was part of a greater ploy to hand Trump the Republican nomination.

“What happened tonight was disgusting,” conspiracy theorist Tracy “Beanz” Diaz wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday night. “If you are OK with this, I don’t want to hear a SINGLE person complaining when Fox News calls a state for the competitor with 1% of precincts reporting. Still voting DeSantis – and doing so proudly.”

“Fox news calls Iowa for a trump within less than 1% of the vote in, while they are yet to vote in some precincts and still tabulating votes in others. Orange Con Man may very well win but wait on actual results to call it!” one X user wrote. “Yep, Fox News @FoxNews is the Trump Worship Channel. Pathetic.”

Conservative activist Aaron McIntire, who attended the caucuses, responded to Fox’s call online, writing, “We haven’t even voted yet,” and adding that he was still listening to people give speeches at the time Fox made the call.

“BREAKING!! Fox calls it for Trump before a single vote was cast!” podcaster Shannon Joy tweeted after seeing McIntire’s remarks, adding laughing emojis.

Others questioned why the race was being called when new updates showed percentages going up for DeSantis while going down for Trump. Radio host Dana Loesch, who supports DeSantis’ presidential bid, took aim at Fox News on social media, sarcastically asking, “So we will call November when voting starts too, right? Just clarifying the new rules here.”

“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’ communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement Monday night. “The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet.”

The early calls also angered Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, who released a statement shortly after the call was made for Trump, decrying the media for its “concerning” decision.

“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 Iowans had even cast their ballot — was highly disappointing and concerning,” Kauffman said.

The network’s call for second place wasn’t made until much later in the night. At 10 p.m. ET, Fox’s decision desk said it was still too early to call, with DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley essentially tied at that point. Fox projected DeSantis would place second at 11:17 p.m. ET.

“DeSantis will trail Trump, as we said, by a significant margin there, but coming in second may give his campaign a much-needed boost,” Baier said.