Report: Dems Blame Trump Trolls For Clogging Up Iowa Caucus Hotline

Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Ser... Precinct Chair Carl Voss shows the phone app he used for the Iowa Caucus to news media at the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters on February 4, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

According to Iowa Democratic Party officials, Trump supporters are partially to blame for the multi-day delay in releasing results from the state’s presidential caucuses.

Bloomberg reported late Wednesday on the claim from party officials, made during a conference call Wednesday night.

IDP central committee member Ken Sagar, who was answering calls on a hotline for caucus workers Monday night, claimed Wednesday that people had called in to the party and expressed their support for President Trump, Bloomberg reported.

After photos were posted online of caucus paperwork featuring the hotline number, trolls seem to have taken advantage of the chaos.

A perfect storm of incompetence, over-reliance on technology and new reporting requirements have delayed caucus results for days.

An app commissioned by the party to report results from individual precinct cites failed, the party has said, and the hotline for local officials had hours-long waiting times.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for pine pine says:

    Dress rehearsal for 2020,sad to say.

  2. “After photos were posted online of caucus paperwork featuring the hotline number, trolls seem to have taken advantage of the chaos.”

    A private, secured, unpublished hotline number, one requiring the caller to enter a secondary password via the phone keypad to reach the call recipient, was probably too forward thinking for Democrats. I mean, who could have predicted Republicans would make mischief? That was a scenario so highly improbable as to merit heaps of scorn for those suggesting it be planned for.

  3. We don’t need the Russians, Chinese, and Koreans to create chaos, we are capable of generating American-made chaos.

  4. Election interference? So HE hasn’t learned his lesson?

  5. Democrats: Volunteering their lunch money to bullies, daily.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

12 more replies

Participants

Avatar for discobot Avatar for footballreddog Avatar for epicurus Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for irasdad Avatar for rick Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for grandpajoe Avatar for pine Avatar for edgarant Avatar for noonm Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for captaintangent Avatar for bcgister

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: