Biden and Trump dominate Super Tuesday as Haley plans to exit race

President Joe Biden was handed his first defeat thus far in the Democratic primary by a man who very few knew before Tuesday night: Venture capitalist Jason Palmer, who CNN projected will win the American Samoa Democratic nominating contest.

While Palmer won in the tiny US territory – where fewer than 100 people participate in the caucus – it will not slow Biden’s commanding march to the Democratic nomination after the president dominated Super Tuesday races across the country.

Palmer, who’s never held political office, launched his ambitious bid for the White House in November. He’s from Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently a partner at New Markets Venture Partners. He previously worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft and Kaplan, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Palmer, 52, acknowledges on his campaign website that his candidacy is a longshot bid “with very little chance of winning,” and claims his campaign is more focused on “ideas, solutions and changing the conversation.”

In a video announcing his candidacy, Palmer vowed to be a champion for young Americans and touted his plan for a “talent economy powered by mission driven entrepreneurs and conscious capitalism.”

More context: American Samoa has been a US territory since 1900. The island is a part of Oceania— about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the Pacific Ocean.

Since American Samoa is a territory and not a US state, its citizens do not vote in the federal election. But, they do get to have a say in who becomes their candidates for president, by voting in the primaries.