premature?

Pete Buttigieg declares victory in Iowa… but the jury’s still out

Pete Buttigieg declared victory in last night’s Iowa caucuses, despite the fact that the Iowa Democratic Party has yet to issue any official results.

“What a night,” the 2020 hopeful told supporters in Des Moines, Iowa. “Because tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality.”

The Iowa Democratic Party announced late Monday that reporting of caucus results was being delayed due to “inconsistencies.” The party has yet to issue any official results, much to the frustration of, well, pretty much everyone.

Except for Mayor Pete.

“We are going on to New Hampshire victorious!” Buttigieg told last night’s crowd.

He also heralded his big win on Twitter, tweeting: “Iowa, you have shocked the nation. By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses”

Buttigieg told CNN this morning that his campaign’s internal data is what led him to declare victory before any official results were announced.

“Like everybody else, probably more than anybody else, I’m impatient to get the official count, but we’ve also seen the reporting from our own precinct organization,” he explained. “In fact, we’ve made it public from over 1,200 precinct locations and what we saw is extraordinary.”

“For a campaign that a year ago, I think a lot of people were questioning what right we even had to do this and to make the attempt. And so it’s clearly a victory for us.”

The response to Buttigieg’s premature declaration is being met with mixed reactions on Twitter…

No word yet on when the official results might be announced.

Related: No matter Iowa’s outcome, Pete Buttigieg ran a historic presidential campaign

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