A Fox News panel defended the network’s early call for former President Donald Trump as the winner of the Iowa caucuses after fierce criticism from the right and left that it was made way too soon.
The DeSantis campaign even argued the early call amounted to "election interference."
"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. The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet," said DeSantis Communications Director Andrew Romeo.
“You know, it’s interesting for the call, Brit. Um, obviously it happens very early, number of networks, including Fox making that call,” anchor Bret Baier said, noting that the Associated Press also made the call.
“We have the Fox News voter analysis along with the Associated Press, this rolling poll of caucus-goers, as well as the raw total of votes coming in, once that was overwhelming on the analysis of that…we could make the call in the caucuses when the doors closed for the caucuses,” he continued. “That is when the official time is to be able to characterize the race. And so that’s how that develops that early. Again, there’s a lot of controversy around it because people were inside and obviously had their phones. But that’s how the rules go for Iowa.”
Chief political analyst Brit Hume also dismissed the claim given the nature of caucusing.
“The reason why people worry about calling these races too soon is that in some places, people haven’t voted,” he said.
“That makes a lot of sense in a general election where people walk in, they cast their ballot, and leave, and if they hear about it ahead of time, they may decide not even to bother,” Hume continued. “But we’re talking here about people who come out on a cold night to gather at the caucus site, and the doors have closed and nobody can get in. And, you know, and so their opportunity to vote remains. It’s hard to believe that very many people would say, oh my goodness the race has been called I’m going home. I don’t think so. So I think, you know, it’s the impact of it seems to me to be - the premise is doubtful.”