DEMOCRAT contender Pete Buttigieg today hit back at "Mayor Cheat" slurs from Bernie Sanders supporters after the Iowa caucuses descended into farce.

The youngest and oldest candidates in the race both claimed victory after an embarrassing technical glitch delayed the official results and sparked internal war in the party.

20 Pete Buttigieg declared victory amid the chaos at the Iowa caucuses last night Credit: Getty Images - Getty

20 Bernie Sanders' campaign team claimed their results put him in first place Credit: AP:Associated Press

Democrat officials said the results will be declared later on Tuesday after problems with a mobile app led to "inconsistencies".

Donald Trump celebrated what he called an "unmitigated disaster" in a gleeful tweet after he easily won the Republican caucuses in the same state with 97 per cent of votes.

He said: "The Democrat Caucus is an unmitigated disaster. Nothing works, just like they ran the Country.

"The only person that can claim a very big victory in Iowa last night is Trump."

VOTING FIASCO

Outsider Buttigieg - the 37-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana - was ridiculed online after posting an apparent victory speech on Twitter.

He said: "Incredible night, incredible result, and such phenomenal energy here. We are headed to New Hampshire victorious."

And in a confusing speech to supporters, he said: "We don't know all of the results. But we do know that by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation.

"Tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality."

The hashtag #MayorCheat became the number one trend on Twitter as Sanders supporters accused him of trying to "steal the election".

Sanders delegate Rafael Shimunov posted a photo of Colonel Gaddafi and joked: "#MayorCheat rolls up to New Hampshire with victory badges he awarded to himself."

20 Pete Buttigieg on the campaign trail today in New Hampshire, where the next primary will be held Credit: EPA

20 Buttigieg shrugged off criticism after he was branded MayorCheat and accused of 'stealing the election' Credit: EPA

20 Last night Buttigieg told supporters: 'Iowa, you have shocked the nation' Credit: Reuters

20 Buttigieg's supporters went wild when he declared he had won last night Credit: Reuters

20 Donald Trump celebrated the chaos of the Democrat caucuses on Twitter Credit: Twitter

Buttigieg shrugged off the criticism and doubled down on his victory claims on CBS This Morning.

He said: "I think it's safe to say no one in the country is more impatient than I am to hear the official results.

"Looking at what happened last night, looking at all of the data that we've got, it was an extraordinary night and we are absolutely victorious coming into New Hampshire."

Earlier a furious Joe Biden slammed the Iowa Democrat party's "acute failures" which forced candidates to take the stage just before midnight with no official results.

His campaign lawyer wrote to the party chairman Troy Price and executive director Kevin Geiken demanding a "full explanation".

He warned the results "cannot be trusted" when they eventually emerge from the 1,600 precincts.

20 Joe Biden at a caucus night campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa Credit: AP:Associated Press

20 Confusion and delays marred the Democratic caucuses in Iowa on Monday night Credit: AP:Associated Press

20 A reported issue with a mobile app caused delays in the results with little answers Credit: AP:Associated Press

20 Bernie Sanders was cheered by supporters in Iowa despite the embarrassing delay in counting votes Credit: AP:Associated Press

Party officials said "quality control" checks was the main reason for the delay and insisted it was not caused by any kind of hack.

Several county chairs said they had struggled to use the app and were then put on hold for up to an hour when calling the results hotline the party has used for decades.

The Floyd County chairman said he had three precincts unable to report voting results, trying both the app and the dedicated phoneline.

The app was created by tech firm Shadow - which is run by former staffers on Hillary Clinton's campaign, reports the New York Times.

Why the Iowa caucuses are so important The caucuses mark the start of the primary voting process and were expected to provide some clarity of the intention of party voters. As of Monday, twelve contenders were still vying for the chance to challenge President Trump for the White House in November. The state of Iowa offers just a tiny percentage of the delegate votes needed to win the nomination but plays a crucial role in culling primary fields. A poor showing in Iowa can cause a fundraising to slow and support to dwindle, while a strong result can give a candidate much needed momentum. The winner of the Iowa caucuses on the Democratic side has frequently gone on to be the party's presidential nominee. Since 1972, there have been nine primary seasons without a Democratic incumbent president running. Six of nine times (67%), the Iowa winner was also the Democratic nominee. The caucuses saw tens of thousands of registered Democrats gathered in the community centers, town halls and high school gyms that make up the more than 1,600 caucus locations. Once the groups had selected their candidates, the numbers were to be tallied and those receiving at least 15 percent of the vote would be locked in for the rest of the night. Displaced supporters were then tasked with finding a new candidate to support from the remaining groups. It is this second wave of alignment that helps determine the winner - though a candidate does not win an entire precinct by simply beating their opponents. In Iowa, toin cosses are still used to help determine outcomes of tied results.

Caucusing around the state started at 7pm Central Standard Time and by Tuesday morning not a single precinct's results were officially in.

Bernie Sanders had been tipped to surge ahead of his three main rivals – former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

His campaign sent out numbers that claimed to show results in 40 per cent of precincts.

They showed the 79-year-old Vermont senator had beaten Buttigieg into first place.

"We recognize that this does not replace the full data from the Iowa Democratic Party, but we believe firmly that our supporters worked too hard for too long to have the results of that work delayed," said campaign adviser Jeff Weaver.

Elizabeth Warren, 78, said it was “too close to call”.

Whatever the eventual result, the delays offered ammunition to President Trump's campaign, which seized on the confusion to score some political points.

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Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale said: "Democrats are stewing in a caucus mess of their own creation with the sloppiest train wreck in history.

"They can’t even run a caucus and they want to run the government."

One Twitter user labelled the event "The Iowa Carcass" creating a meme featuring a photo of a dead animal.

Another showed a cartoon dog sitting in a burning building, with the sarcastic caption: "This is fine."

Dan Scavino, White House director of social media, posted a meme of a burning dumpster being swept away in a flood.

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20 Earlier in the day, enlivened voters caucused for their favorite candidates Credit: Reuters

20 The caucuses are set to offer the first glimpses of the voting intentions of democratic voters Credit: Reuters

20 Senator Elizabeth Warren was one of the frontrunners heading into Monday night's voting Credit: Reuters

20 Former Vice President Joe Biden delivered pizzas to volunteer workers ahead of the evening's caucusing Credit: AFP or licensors

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