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It is an "unmitigated disaster," says Trump on Iowa Democratic vote counting impasse

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Press Trust of India Washington

President Donald Trump on Tuesday took a jibe at the Opposition Democrats, describing as an "unmitigated disaster" their failure to publish the results from the voting in Iowa, apparently due to a glitch in a new app used by the Democratic Party in the state.

Monday's caucuses in Iowa was the first round in the contest to pick a Democratic Party candidate to face Trump, a Republican, in the presidential election in November.

Iowa state's Democratic Party said the holdup in publishing the election outcome was a "reporting issue" while the US media reports blamed a a new app used by the party.

 

Officials from two Democratic campaigns told CNN that they were told the app to tabulate results had crashed. They said they had not been given any other information.

"It wasn't the first time the Iowa caucuses have produced late results, but Monday night's issues come after months of heightened criticism of the caucus process and calls for Iowa to lose its vaunted first-in-the-nation status," The Des Moines Register newspaper commented.

Reacting to the chaos and confusion in the Democratic Party, President Trump, in an early morning tweet, described it as an "unmitigated disaster."

"The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country. Remember the 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare Website, that should have cost 2% of that," Trump, who earlier easily won the Iowa caucus, tweeted.

"The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump, he added.

The front-runners among the 11 remaining Democratic contenders are Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former US Vice-President Joe Biden. Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar are also contesting to be the Democratic Party candidate who will challenge Trump in the November 3 election.

Earlier, the Trump campaign mocked the delay on Twitter, even as it celebrated the huge crowds at the Republican caucuses in Iowa that showed up to vote for the president.

"Quality control = rigged?" asked Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.

"Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history," he said in a statement.

"It would be natural for people to doubt the fairness of the process. And these are the people who want to run our entire health care system?"

Parscale added: "Tonight President Trump posted a record performance in the well-run GOP Iowa caucuses with record turnout for an incumbent.

Trump also thanked his supporters in Iowa, tweeting, "Big WIN for us in Iowa tonight.

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First Published: Feb 04 2020 | 6:06 PM IST

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