"The Five" co-host Juan Williams sat down with Fox News Radio's Dave Anthony ahead of Friday's New Hampshire Democratic primary debate to break down the 2020 race following the Iowa caucuses fiasco earlier this week.
"The screw up in Iowa hurts someone like Pete Buttigieg [and] hurt Bernie Sanders because they came out on top and they should've gotten a huge bounce," Williams told the "Fox News Rundown" podcast. "Instead, the big story was chaos: 'The Democrats can't count.'"
The Associated Press announced late Thursday that it was unable to determine a winner in Iowa "because of irregularities in this year's process" as well as the tight margin between Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Sen. Sanders, I-Vt. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Buttigieg had just two more State Delegate Equivalents than Sanders.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden came in a distant fourth place in Iowa behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., but Williams cautioned against counting Biden out just yet, saying that he could make a comeback in New Hampshire's Feb. 11 primary, where the electorate may be more favorable to him.
"He is looking for something Bill Clinton really branded as the “Comeback Kid...and I think he might get it."
"He is looking for something -- Bill Clinton really [was] branded 'The Comeback Kid' [in 1992]. He's looking for that. And I think he might get it," Williams said.
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The political analyst predicted that Sanders would win the New Hampshire primary, but added: "I'm thinking that Biden will be right there and it'll be very close. And then you get into Nevada and South Carolina, and I expect for Biden to survive, he's got to win in both. Otherwise, Buttigieg gets a leg up in terms of that centrist lane, and [former New York City Mayor] Michael Bloomberg then emerges.
Williams added that Biden now faces "financial challenges," which may make it difficult for him to continue in the race unless his results change dramatically.
"If he finishes fourth in New Hampshire, does that make it harder to go out and say, 'Hey, give me some money?' Well, that's what I'm saying," Williams said.
Despite Biden's early struggles and lack of fundraising, Williams reiterated his belief that Biden was the Democrat President Trump least wants to face.
"I got to tell you that the Trump campaign loves Bernie Sanders. And I think it's clear in both cases, though, Warren or Sanders, that it fits into the Republican riff about socialists, communists. But, clearly, they're afraid of Joe Biden," Williams concluded.
"That's what this whole Ukraine thing was about, getting dirt on Joe Biden. And I think they're somewhat afraid of Michael Bloomberg because he has such deep pockets."
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