President Joe Biden was defeated by an obscure candidate at the Democratic caucuses in American Samoa in a surprising result that came amid a string of Super Tuesday victories.
Democrat Jason Palmer, an entrepreneur running a long-shot bid against the incumbent, was projected to win the U.S. territory’s Democratic race.
Palmer has reportedly qualified for the presidential ballot in just 16 states and territories, according to a release from the campaign.
Palmer notably campaigned in the territory.
Since American Samoa is a U.S. territory, it doesn’t have electoral votes in the general election — but it can still send 11 delegates to the Democratic National Convention later this year.
Palmer and Biden each won 3 delegates.
Recent polls showed Biden trailing disgraced former President Donald Trump in several critical states, including Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada and Wisconsin.
In those states, 48 percent of voters said they would back Trump, while 43 percent said they would back Biden.
Many Democrats thought Trump’s legal problems would tank him, but the US Supreme Court in a unanimous decision on Monday ruled that 14th Amendment does not preclude the Republican from running despite his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Other high-profile trials have been delayed, raising doubts about whether they will reach verdicts before Election Day.
Criminal cases brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington and Miami and by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia are stuck in limbo and may not be resolved by Election Day.
Trump’s relatively strong political position contrasts sharply with Biden’s faltering effort to get his message out to voters.
Democrats got another alarming message when a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump leading Biden 48 percent to 43 percent among registered voters nationwide but his rivals Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips proved incapable of achieving success at the polls.
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