Late night hosts thrash Iowa Democrats for the caucus debacle, offer an easy fix for their wonky app

Late night hosts poke Iowa Democrats
(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Daily Show, Late Night,The Late Show, Conan)

Last night, "the great state of confusion formerly known as Iowa" was supposed to kick off the 2020 election with its Democratic caucus, Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. "Instead, they kicked democracy right in the ol' hanging chad." All night and most of Tuesday, "every district was officially reporting at zero," he said. "Or as Tom Steyer would say, 'I'm tied for first!'"

"We've known for the last three years that this is the most important election of our lifetime, and on Day 1, the Democrats down in Des Moines shanked it," Colbert said. The main problem was a wonky app "developed by a company called — and this is real — Shadow Inc. The app was supposed to count the votes and, I think, kill James Bond?" He showed clips from the chaos. "Some people say that this debacle is going to end the Iowa caucus," he said. "But others are more optimistic and say it's going to end Iowa."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.