NBC “Today” show host Matt Lauer said Tuesday that the Iowa caucus results “had to be a near death experience for the once presumptive nominee” Hillary Clinton.
“Hillary Clinton gets to come out of Iowa and say, technically, ‘I’m the winner, but this had to be a near-death experience for the once presumptive nominee,” Lauer said.
Moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd answered, “Let’s call it what it is. She avoided a complete disaster.”
The Democratic Party of Iowa declared Clinton the winner by very narrow margins early Tuesday, but Sanders has not yet conceded and the Associated Press has not yet called the race.
“OK, a win is a win,” Todd continued. “It would have been a disaster if she would have lost. Bernie Sanders has to feel great, and yet you can look at it another way and say, ‘Ah, if he couldn’t beat her under these conditions in this state, how is he going to beat her places like South Carolina, Alabama where the electorate is more diverse and all those things?’ All that said, you could feel it. The Clinton campaign may have won technically. They’re acting like they lost. The Sanders campaign is acting like they won.”
Clinton received 699.57 state delegate equivalents to Sanders’ 695.49, according to the party.