Biden loses American Samoa caucus to little-known Democratic candidate Jason Palmer
Well, that was unexpected.
President Biden suffered a stunning Super Tuesday defeat in the American Samoa caucus at the hands of Jason Palmer.
The Democratic Party in American Samoa issued a statement Tuesday night affirming that Palmer had received 51 votes in the island caucus, while Biden had received just 40. The only other caucus candidate, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) received no votes.
You read that right: 91 votes were cast in a nominating contest for a 45,000-strong island.
Party officials said the results would be certified on Friday, with Palmer on track to receive four of the island’s six Democratic National Convention delegates and Biden getting the other two.
Palmer, 52, is a Baltimore-based tech entrepreneur who has worked at Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Like Biden’s other longshot rivals, he has argued that it’s time for the president to pass the baton onto the next generation.
The lesser-known Democratic hopeful has also called on the federal government to ramp up its game on technology and demanded a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, as well as an end to US military aid to Israel until a pause in the fighting between the Jewish state and Hamas takes effect.
On immigration, Palmer has called for a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers — immigrants brought to the US illegally as children — while revoking so-called “humanitarian parole” from illegal border crossers.
American Samoa didn’t go for Biden in 2020 either — instead giving former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg his only Super Tuesday win.
The American Samoa caucus was one of 16 contests taking place on the Democratic side on Super Tuesday. Republicans will hold their presidential caucus in the territory on Friday.
Palmer is the first non-Biden human to win delegates in the Democratic primary, after “uncommitted” received two delegates following a strong performance in the Michigan primary last week.
Biden has yet to lose any states in the Democratic race, while his likely opponent in November, former President Donald Trump, narrowly lost Vermont to Republican rival Nikki Haley.
Haley’s win in the Green Mountain State followed her only other victory, in Sunday’s District of Columbia primary.