Little-known Democrat beats Biden in American Samoa

President Biden suffered his first defeat in the Democratic nomination race after being defeated in American Samoa on Tuesday night by Jason Palmer, a relatively unknown technology entrepreneur from Maryland, according to The Associated Press.

Mr. Palmer was the only Democrat to campaign in the island territory, about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Residents are not eligible to vote in the general election.

Mr. Palmer won four of the area’s six Democratic delegates, which are awarded proportionately based on final vote totals. Mr. Biden won the remaining two delegates. Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips was the only other Democrat to appear on the ballot but not win any delegates.

This isn’t the first time American Samoa has achieved a surprising result in its Democratic caucus. In 2016 a majority of caucusgoers vote for free delegates instead of Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. And in 2020, Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, won there, giving him the only victory of his campaign.

In his quixotic campaign against Mr. Biden, Mr. Palmer has done just that emphasized his relative youth. At 52, he is the youngest Democrat in the race, and nearly 30 years younger than Mr. Biden. Mr Palmer has also tried to distinguish himself from policy makers: in February he called for a ceasefire in Gaza in a video posted on X.