Why Was a Winner Projected in Iowa With <1% Votes Counted?

With less than 1% of the vote in, Decision Desk HQ and various news networks have projected Donald Trump to win the 2024 GOP Iowa caucuses. It was a victory declared in record time.

Decision Desk HQ projects Donald Trump wins the Iowa Republican Caucuses.#DecisionMade: 8:46pm ET

Follow more results here: https://t.co/FeAlhRkfNC pic.twitter.com/GS93x1ObSx

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) January 16, 2024

CBS News was one of the first networks to call the race at 8:30 PM ET.

CBS News projects that former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 Iowa GOP caucuses. https://t.co/PpCkcgImO1 pic.twitter.com/6h4gYSw8Pm

— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 16, 2024

In other news, it’s cold in Iowa.

In all seriousness, Trump was expected to win and won’t be the most important story of the night unless you’re a Trump supporter.

"The people of lowa sent a clear message tonight: Donald Trump will be the next Republican nominee for President. It's now time to make him the next President of the United States,” Alex Pfeiffer, communications director for Make America Great Again Inc, said in a statement posted to X/Twitter. "Joe Biden's team just announced a massive war chest. Every dollar spent by President Trump's primary losers is a dollar that could be fighting Joe Biden. Once the DC RINOs are finished crying in their cocktails over tonight's results, it's time for Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy to face reality and stop wasting time and resources."

Ron DeSantis’s press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, blasted the move by the media, pointing out that some precincts haven’t even voted yet. "I’m at a precinct that hasn’t even voted yet, and the media are trying to call the race for Trump,” he said in a post on X/Twitter.

I’m at a precinct that hasn’t even voted yet, and the media are trying to call the race for Trump.

— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) January 16, 2024

"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,” Andrew Romeo, DeSantis’s communication director, said in a post on X/Twitter. "The media is in the tank for Trump, and this is the most egregious example yet."

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.

— Andrew Romeo (@andrewromeo33) January 16, 2024

Even Trump’s former press secretary, Sean Spicer, was critical of the media’s rush to declare Trump the victor, tweeting, "The media calling the caucuses 30 minutes after they start is highly irresponsible."