Democratic presidential candidate Jason Palmer shocked the country by defeating President Joe Biden in the American Samoa caucus on Tuesday night, robbing the incumbent president of a clean sweep of the Super Tuesday primaries.
Palmer, a Baltimore-based technology education entrepreneur, revealed on CNN after his stunning victory — beating Biden by 11 votes in the 91-person election — that he never even traveled to the South Pacific island nation, but in instead spoke to voters virtually.
In the interview, he also encouraged the 81-year-old Biden to resign and pass the torch to the younger generation.
The 52-year-old said he planned to stay in the race, focus on Arizona’s March 19 primary, and make a trip to the border.
“I didn’t actually fly to American Samoa,” Palmer said, telling CNN’s Laura Coates that he was indeed “surprised” by the upset. “I actually went to several virtual town halls and talked to the residents there because, you may not know this, but people in American Samoa are not necessarily automatically U.S. citizens.”
Jason Palmer is interviewed Tuesday evening at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC following his shocking victory in the American Samoa caucus, which cost President Joe Biden a clean sweep in the Super Tuesday Democratic primaries
CNN’s Laura Coates (left) interviewed little-known Democratic presidential candidate Jason Palmer (right), who stunned the nation — and sparked much Googling — by winning the caucus in American Samoa during the Super Tuesday races
Palmer said he listened to their concerns and shared his ideas on improving education, health care and climate change.
“As a new candidate it is actually very difficult to break through,” he admitted.
Just like Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, another Biden challenger, told Palmer he was in the race hoping Biden would run for the nomination — or drop out.
“The most important thing we can do as Democrats is defeat Donald Trump in the November elections. Part of the reason I entered the race was to ensure that Biden would campaign vigorously,” Palmer said.
Palmer said he had campaigned in other early primaries, including New Hampshire and Nevada, which held primaries in January and February, and in Colorado, another Super Tuesday state.
“And the Republicans are out in full force,” he warned. ‘If we don’t campaign as vigorously, we will lose in November. When people say we’re sleepwalking into a Trump election, that’s real.”
Palmer said he was running to galvanize young voters and would focus on gaining support from the center-left and center-right.
“If Joe Biden only talks about Donald Trump and only talks about foreign policy and foreign wars, he’s not going to win in November. You have to have a clear, positive agenda,” he argued.
Like President Joe Biden last week, Jason Palmer said on CNN that he was planning a border trip soon as he competes for delegates in Arizona’s Democratic primary later this month.
Presidential candidate Jason Palmer said in an interview with CNN that 81-year-old President Joe Biden should step down and pass the torch to the younger generation
Palmer then respectfully suggested that Biden drop out.
“So what I would recommend to President Biden is that, first and foremost, I honor you for your fifty years of great service to our country. “I think it’s time to pass the torch to the next generation of Americans,” he said.
“Whether that’s up to me or governors like Gretchen Whitmer, Jared Polis and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California,” Palmer continued. “There are a lot of younger people who are willing to take up that torch, who are great leaders in our party and will ensure that Donald Trump doesn’t win in November.”
“I think Joe Biden can be like George Washington, as a transitional figure, and pass this on to the next generation,” Palmer added. “And that would be the best thing he could do: retire as a great American statesman.”
Washington gave up his presidency after two terms, setting a precedent for more than a hundred years.
Biden won the Democratic primaries in all fifteen states where voters went to the polls for Super Tuesday, facing little competition from Phillips and self-help guru Marianne Williamson, his two better-known challengers.
He has taken more issue with the Democrats’ vote of no-commitment, a protest vote over his support for Israel, while civilians are being killed in Gaza.
Palmer told Coates he planned to continue running in the Democratic primaries since less than half the states have voted.
Arizona, he said, would be next.
The presidential hopeful said he would release a 12-page white paper on how to resolve the border crisis, which would include hiring more immigration judges to review asylum claims.
“I look forward to going to the border, campaigning vigorously in Arizona and showing the American people that we can find a path forward on immigration,” Palmer said.