Joe Biden lost the American Samoa Democratic primary to little-known candidate Jason Palmer, becoming the first incumbent president to lose a primary since Jimmy Carter in 1980.
Palmer’s surprising victory tarnished an otherwise perfect night for Biden, during which he scored a string of primary wins across the U.S.
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The Context
Biden and Donald Trump secured a wave of victories on Super Tuesday with each now the overwhelming favorite to win their respective parties’ 2024 presidential nominations, setting up a rematch of the 2020 contest. However each candidate lost one primary, with Trump suffering a surprise Vermont defeat to former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, in addition to Biden’s American Samoa loss.
What We Know
Out of the 91 ballots cast in the American Samoa primary, Palmer, a Maryland resident, won 51 versus 40 for Biden. Only six delegates were at stake, with Palmer taking four, and Biden two.
American Samoa is a small U.S. territory in the South Pacific with an estimated 2023 population of 44,620, according to the CIA’s world fact book.
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Campaign finance records show Palmer loaned his presidential campaign over $500,000 of his own money.
According to the Associated Press, during an interview late on Tuesday he said: “I found out that I had won because my phone started blowing up with friends and campaign staffers texting me.”
The last sitting president to lose a primary was Jimmy Carter in 1980, who lost 12 contests to Democratic rival Ted Kennedy. Carter did win the Democratic primary overall and went on to suffer a crushing defeat against Republican Ronald Reagan in the presidential election.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg won the 2020 Democratic primary race in American Samoa, his only victory during the contest.
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Views
In an interview with CNN early on Wednesday, Palmer urged Biden to “pass the torch to the next generation of Americans” and claimed America is “sleepwalking into a Trump election.”
He added: “I’m running to energize young voters and also center-left, center-right people with a positive vision of what we can do in the next four years.
“If Joe Biden’s just talking about Donald Trump and he’s just talking about foreign policy and foreign wars, that’s not going to win in November. You got to have a clear, positive agenda.”
Palmer also admitted he hadn’t visited the territory during his campaign commenting: “I didn’t actually fly to American Samoa.
“‘I actually did multiple virtual town halls and spoke with the nationals there because, you may not know, but people in American Samoa are not necessarily automatically Americans citizens.”
Speaking at an election watch party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump welcomed his string of primary victories, commenting: “They call it Super Tuesday for a reason. This is a big one. And they tell me, the pundits and otherwise, that there’s never been one like this.”
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On X Biden posted: “Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard—showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards.
“Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy. This is our fight.”
What’s Next
Voting is taking place on Wednesday for Hawaii’s Democratic Party primary.
The 2024 Democratic presidential candidate will be formally selected at the party’s National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19 to 22.
