- President Joe Biden has lost one Super Tuesday contest – American Samoa’s caucus
- Entrepreneur Jason Palmer, who visited the territory, beat the sitting president by 11 votes, earning him four Democratic delegates
- Palmer is a Baltimore-based investor whose campaign website crashed once his win was announced
President Joe Biden has suffered his first lost in a Democratic primary, losing American Samoa’s caucus Tuesday night to unknown candidate Jason Palmer.
The president was defeated 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.
Palmer is a Baltimore-based investor but has spent time on the island in recent days, his campaign said.
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 Democrat won a contest came in 1996, when perennial candidate Roland Riemers won in North Dakota due to President Bill Clinton not appearing on the ballot.
Clinton went on to win reelection.
The more memorable time an incumbent was beaten was when President Jimmy Carter lost Massachusetts in 1980 to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Kennedy’s home state and then in another 11 states.
Carter lost his reelection bid to Republican President Ronald Reagan.
