Pete Buttigieg by DonkeyHotey, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

There’s just something about Pete Buttigieg that’s so inauthentic and underhanded. Maybe it’s the whole “moderate nose on/moderate nose off” routine he’s constantly playing, or perhaps it’s his bashing of Christians who don’t subscribe to his views. Whatever it is, it’s palpable and a lot of people are starting to see it.

That aspect of the South Bend mayor has Bernie Sanders fans none to happy, as Buttigieg made a series of moves yesterday evening during the chaotic and disastrous Iowa caucus last night.

For starters, he declared himself victorious before the first vote came in (as of this writing there are still no totals released).

“What a night. Because tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality,” Buttigieg told his supporters Monday night in Des Moines, Iowa. The Iowa Democratic Party announced Monday that the reporting of caucus results was delayed because of “inconsistencies” in the reporting. The party has still not reported any results of the caucus. “So we don’t know all the results, but we know by the time, it’s all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious,” Buttigieg told the crowd in comments that drew criticism online.

That was pretty weird considering it looks like he only came in second, and possibly a distant second at that. What kind of person goes out and says they won when they don’t know if they’ve won? This incensed Sanders backers, who saw it as stealing their thunder on a night that was supposed to propel the aging communist to greater things.

But there was also the oddness that permeated the process itself. For example, watch this coin toss that awarded delegates to Buttigieg and see if you notice anything.

Watch how Buttigieg ‘randomly’ wins this coin toss pic.twitter.com/vn1FEv12l7 — Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 4, 2020

This kid has either never flipped a coin before and doesn’t get the concept, or he’s actively cheating. You can see him look at the coin, mummer something, and then fiddle with it. Then he announces it’s heads and Buttigieg wins to the applause of the crowd. If I were a Sanders backer, I’d be pretty dang suspicious of how much more of this went on throughout the night. In another example, Sanders won the overwhelming vote total at one precinct, but was awarded the same amount of delegates as Buttigieg.

Other sketchy happenings continued as well.

I’m not the best at math, but I’m pretty sure 3.2 does not round up to 4, but whatever.

Lastly, the ties between Buttigieg’s campaign and the secretive company that produced the caucus reporting apt came to light.

Three different sources say a firm called "Shadow" developed the Iowa Dem caucus app. They haven't responded to comment, neither has Iowa Dem Party. The firm was paid by both Nevada & Iowa Democratic Party, disclosures show. Also by Mayor Pete's campaign. — Lee Fang (@lhfang) February 4, 2020

Even if we assume nothing untoward occurred here, it’s still a pretty large conflict of interest for a campaign to be giving cash to the company responsible for tallying the votes. I’m loathe to defend Sanders and his silly supporters, but I’ve got to say that if I were in their position, I’d be pretty ticked off today. Not only has the Democratic Party cost Sanders a chance to carry momentum into New Hampshire and Nevada, the gamesmanship by Buttigieg’s campaign doesn’t look good at all.

But overall, I’m enjoying this immensely. Watching the Democrats implode, Trump surge in the latest polling, and impeachment crash and burn has been hilarious.

Front-page contributor for RedState. Visit my archives for more of my latest articles and help out by following me on Twitter @bonchieredstate. Read more by Bonchie