(Headline USA) Despite having no serious competition, President Joe Biden faced a brutal and humiliating primary loss on Tuesday in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.
He fell short there to a previously unknown candidate named Jason Palmer. Out of 91 ballots cast in the territory’s caucus, Palmer won 51 and Biden won 40, according to the local party.
“I found out that I had won because my phone started blowing up with friends and campaign staffers texting me,” Palmer said in an interview late Tuesday.
Palmer, 52, said he never visited the territory before the caucus.
“I have been campaigning remotely, doing Zoom town halls, talking to people, listening to them about their concerns and what matters to them,” he said.
Only six delegates were at stake in the U.S. territory, a tiny collection of islands in the South Pacific with fewer than 50,000 residents. Palmer and Biden each earned three delegates from the race.
Nonetheless, the win immediately elevates Palmer into status as the Democrats’ best hope of winning the 2024 election with few having faith that the 81-year-old Biden has the cognitive capacity for another term in office.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s abysmal approval ratings likewise suggest that she is not a viable alternative.
On Tuesday, former first lady Michelle Obama, whom many assumed Democrats would use to pull a last-minute bait-and-switch during or after the August convention, publicly stated through her office that she would not be running.
The strategy behind Palmer’s stunning political upset was deceptively simple: Just show up.
The day before the caucus, Palmer tweeted that “Washington D.C. is long overdue for a president who will be an advocate for American Samoa.”
Washington D.C. is long overdue for a president who will be an advocate for American Samoa. The Meet & Greet in Malaeimi was a perfect way to learn more about what locals need the most. As a Democratic Candidate on the ballot, I’m here for the fight #AmericanSamoa #JasonPalmer pic.twitter.com/uDcZBTXG2r
— Jason Palmer (@educationpalmer) March 4, 2024
His account includes pictures of young people holding homemade campaign signs.
Palmer is a Baltimore resident who has worked for various businesses and nonprofits, often on issues involving technology and education.
That reportedly includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, perhaps raising questions for some as to whether his candidacy could be a globalist psy-op.
He said voters want “someone who is more of the 21st century than Joe Biden” to serve as president.
According to campaign finance records, Palmer has loaned his campaign more than $500,000 of his own money.
“You can’t take the money with you when you die,” he said. “But you can change the world while you’re here.”
Residents of U.S. territories vote in primaries but do not have representation in the Electoral College.
American Samoa has been the site of quixotic victories before. During the 2020 Democratic primaries, billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s only win came in the territory.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
