Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a harsh rebuke to the Democratic Party on Tuesday after the Iowa caucus descended into chaos the previous night amid “inconsistencies” in reporting voting results.
“The same Democrats who want to take over everyone’s healthcare and micromanage the entire economy couldn’t even organize their own traditional Iowa caucuses?” McConnell wrote in a tweet.
The Iowa Democratic Party failed for hours to report the final results of Monday night’s caucus, sending the Democratic presidential primary into a limbo state as candidates await the final vote tally, expected Tuesday evening. State party officials blamed glitches in a new smartphone app being used to report results — a “coding issue” that resulted in precinct managers calling the state party hotline to report results, only to be put on hold for hours.
“This is not a good night for democracy,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, who led his rivals in initial caucus results. “You know, if I’m a first time voter when I came out and I voted, and the results are not coming in for 16 hours, you know, it’s a little bit disconcerting.”
Most 2020 Democrats are running on a Medicare for All platform, although some, such as former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, back expanding Medicare but not eliminating private health insurance.
McConnell has criticized Medicare for All as a “socialist” proposal and vowed it will not pass the Senate as long as he is majority leader.
“You want to turn America into a socialist country this is the first step,” the Kentucky Republican said last year. “I think what we’re seeing here is full socialism on display in the Democratic primaries for president.”
McConnell has said he instead supports “niche fixes to try to improve the current system,” such as lowering Obamacare’s expensive co-pays and deductibles and lowering the costs of prescription drugs.