NBC's Chuck Todd: Joe Biden 'may have dodged a bullet' in Iowa


Did former Vice President Joe Biden just narrowly avoid disaster in Iowa?
NBC News' Chuck Todd thinks so, speculating on Tuesday morning that last night's catastrophic Iowa caucuses, results from which have still yet to be reported amid technical glitches, may have helped Biden more than anyone else.
"All indications are that Joe Biden was sitting somewhere in the third or fourth range with the first alignment ... it's very possible that once they do the delegate reallocation, he was going to be in fourth," Todd observed, adding "our entrance polls indicate that there was a real possibility of that."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Given that Biden was able to head out of Iowa and onto New Hampshire without embarrassingly coming in fourth place Monday night, Todd observed, "Joe Biden may have dodged a bullet." On the other hand, Todd argued former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg may have been hurt the most by the delays, as it "appears that he may have been the one that could have won on the second realignment."
Other pundits made similar observations about Biden, with Politico also declaring him "the biggest 'winner,'" noting the "questions surrounding the vote-counting served to obscure a potentially poor performance" by him. As the campaigns quickly moved on to New Hampshire, Politico observes Biden, in particular, "couldn't get out of Iowa fast enough." Brendan Morrow
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders