After the results of the Iowa caucuses were uncharacteristically delayed, right-wing media seized the opportunity to cheer on the disorder and allege that Democrats cannot competently govern.

On February 3, the Iowa caucuses ended with no results reported from the state Democratic Party. The party blamed inconsistencies in reporting from caucus sites for the delay of results, while media and other sources cast doubts on an app used to record results during the caucuses. The delays led to a flurry of unfounded conspiracy theories suggesting that something more nefarious than mere technical issues had occurred.  

As soon as it was reported that Iowa caucus results were delayed, right-wing pundits pounced on the opportunity to disparage Democrats by cheering on the disorder, claiming that it proved Democrats are too incompetent to govern, and suggesting that the implementation of progressive policies would be a disaster. 

Right-wing media cheered on difficulties of the Iowa caucuses

• The Daily Caller posted an image to Facebook mocking the Iowa caucus process using a character from PBS’ Sesame Street, saying, “Expert counter Count von Count called in to aid Iowa Caucus.”

• Conservative radio host Wayne Dupree posted on his Facebook page that “we’re watching the real-time implosion of the Dem party right now” with the hashtag “#DNCisCorrupt.”

• The Daily Wire posted an article compiling examples of Republican criticism titled “Republicans Troll Democrats Into Oblivion Over Iowa Caucus Disaster. Here Are The Best Responses.”

Right-wing media claimed Democrats are too incompetent to govern

• Right-wing propaganda site The Western Journal published an article on February 3 titled “'Complete Disaster': Iowa Dems Blasted for Total Caucus Meltdown” and updated it to include tweets slamming Democrats from various right-wing figures, including Ryan Fournier, Scott Presler, Matt Schlapp, Katie Pavlich, and Michelle Malkin.

• Ann Coulter tweeted that “Democrats screwed an impeachment and now a caucus,” adding, “Next up: They try to boil water.”

• Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted that it was a “Democrat party meltdown,” claiming, “They can’t even run a caucus and they want to run the government.”

• In a tweet, Donald Trump Jr. questioned “if the Democrats can’t run a #caucus,” then “how the hell can anyone think they could actually run the country?”

• Conservative radio host Mark Levin tweeted and posted to Facebook that it was a “disaster,” saying that “the Socialist Democrats can’t run a caucus vote in a small state but insist they can run our lives and every industry in the country” and calling the candidates “losers.”

Right-wing figures exploited the situation to attack specific progressive policies

• Fox & Friends hosted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who said that it’s “interesting” that Democrats “can't stand in the gymnasium and count who stands under which sign” but “want to be put in charge of our health care and everything else in our life."

• On his podcast, The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro said that Democrats “can’t even run an Iowa caucus, and yet you want to run our health care, you want to run our energy sector, you want to run our economy, you want to run Wall Street.” 

• Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote an article pointing to the Iowa caucuses as a reason why Democrats cannot govern, claiming that “Democrats and their corporate media allies want to federalize everything: the police, our health care, our schools, our lives,” but “Iowa is a perfect example of federal central planners marching into a state where nothing was broken and attempting to ‘fix it.’”

• Right-wing commentator Jeff Kuhner tweeted: “If the Dems can't run one election in Iowa how are they supposed to be able to run/fix the planet (climate change), health care (Medicare-for-All) or the economy? The answer is obvious: They can't.” 

• The Federalist’s Sean Davis said that the Iowa caucuses make it “abundantly clear that Democrats are the single greatest threat to election security and integrity in this country.”

• Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said that his takeaway is that “they want to run Medicare for All” despite “screw-ups everywhere” and “no results” from yesterday’s caucuses. 

• Right-wing social media personality Scott Presler tweeted that “Democrats want a complete government takeover of your healthcare,” but “they can’t even run an Iowa caucus," calling it “socialism in action.” 

• David Bossie, president of the conservative political action committee Citizens United, repeated a Trump talking point calling Democrats “the Do nothing Dems” and saying that they “can’t run a caucus but want to take over every Americans health care.”