WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida lashed out at the media Monday after networks declared former President Donald Trump the winner before some caucus sites had started voting.
“It is 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,” said DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo. “The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet.”
The news broke at a caucus site here right around the same time a surrogate for Mr. DeSantis had taken the stage to sing his praises.
Mr. DeSantis has been growing increasingly frustrated with conservative media outlets, accusing them of shielding Mr. Trump from scrutiny.
“[Trump’s] got basically a Praetorian Guard of the conservative media. Fox News, the websites, all this stuff,” Mr. DeSantis said at a recent campaign stop, alluding to Roman emperors’ bodyguards.“They just don’t — they don’t hold him accountable because they’re worried about losing viewers and they don’t want to have the ratings go down.”
Mr. DeSantis is hoping for a strong second-place showing in Iowa.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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