President Joe Biden suffered a shock defeat on Super Tuesday, losing American Samoa’s caucuses to unknown candidate Jason Palmer.
The president was beaten in the tiny U.S. territory in the South Pacific that isn’t awarded Electoral College votes but can still send Democratic delegates to this summer’s convention.
Just 91 Democrats turned out to vote, with Palmer receiving 51 votes to Biden’s 40. American Samoa has just six delegates, with Palmer expected to earn four and Biden two.
‘I didn’t actually fly to American Samoa,’ the Baltimore-based investor said Tuesday night on CNN. ‘I actually did multiple virtual town halls and spoke with the nationals there because, you may not know, but people in American Samoa are not necessarily automatically Americans citizens.’
During the 2020 Democratic primary race, American Samoa was the only contest to be won by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor.
Jason Palmer, 52, notched a surprise win Tuesday night in American Samoa’s Democratic caucus. The Baltimore-based entrepreneur beat President Joe Biden by 11 votes, which will earn him four delegates
After pouring millions into his presidential race, Bloomberg promptly dropped out and endorsed Biden.
Moments after his win was announced on CNN, Palmer’s campaign website appeared to have crashed.
Palmer’s claim to fame, his campaign said in a press release, is that he’s the first presidential candidate to release a talking, AI-powered version of himself.
The 52-year-old hopeful previously worked at Microsoft, Kaplan Education, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is a graduate of Harvard Business School, his campaign said.
His win comes as Biden has two better-known challengers, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help guru Marianne Williamson, who jumped back in the primary race on Wednesday after she garnered more votes than Phillips in the Michigan primary.
Prior to Palmer’s win, Biden lost two delegates to ‘uncommitted,’ a protest vote over the president’s support of Israel as civilians are being killed in Gaza.
President Joe Biden has lost the primary in American Samoa to unknown candidate Jason Palmer
Neither Phillips nor Williamson have won a single delegate yet.
Before Palmer’s unexpected primary win, the Minnesota congressman was already humorously talking about his poor results.
‘Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me,’ he posted on X.
The last time a challenger of an incumbent president won a primary contest came in 1996, when Roland Riemers won in North Dakota due to President Bill Clinton not appearing on the ballot.
Clinton went on to win reelection.
Before that, in 1980, incumbent president Jimmy Carter lost Massachusetts to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Kennedy’s home state, and then in another 11 states.
Carter went on to lose the general election to Ronald Reagan.