ABC ‘mistakenly’ airs election results sparking wild conspiracy theories
ABC has sparked wild conspiracy theories after accidentally airing the election results for Pennsylvania.
The results appeared on the ticker at the bottom of the screen on Sunday during a broadcast of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Mexico by local ABC affiliate WNEP-TV.
It showed that Kamala Harris won the state with 52 percent of the vote, while Donald Trump’s share was 47 percent.
It immediately led to claims of election fraud on social media, with one person tweeting: “The cheat has begun.”
WNEP-TV said the numbers appeared incorrectly on the screen and that they were “randomly generated” as part of a test ahead of election night on Nov. 5.
The results appeared early Sunday evening on the ticker at the bottom of the screen of local ABC affiliate WNEP-TV during a broadcast of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Mexico. The ticker showed Kamala Harris taking the state with 52 percent of the vote, while Donald Trump’s share was 47 percent.
Kamala Harris greets supporters before speaking during a Get Out the Vote rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on October 30
Trump currently leads the state by 0.6 percentage points in an average of Real Clear Politics’ top polls.
Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by the narrowest margin, beating Trump by 80,555 votes, or 1.17 percent.
Democrats have accused Trump and his allies of laying the groundwork to contest a possible loss by sowing doubts about the election’s legitimacy.
He has portrayed Democrats as cheats, called ballots corrupt and urged his supporters to vote in such large numbers that the election was “too big to rig.”
In response to the WNEP-TV broadcast, someone on And the media wonders why no one trusts them?’
Another said, “ABC is cheating for the Democratic machine. Their license should be revoked.”
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was WNEP’s fault that they did so.
“The numbers seen on the screen are randomly generated test results sent to help news organizations ensure their equipment is working properly before election night.
Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on October 29
‘The figures did not reflect the actual number of votes.
Pennsylvania law does not allow mail-in ballots to be removed from their envelopes before 7 a.m. on Election Day, and no votes of any kind will be counted in Pennsylvania until after the polls close at 8 p.m.
‘WNEP regrets the error and apologizes for any confusion. We have taken steps to ensure this does not happen again.’
ABC has already been attacked by Trump and his supporters for its alleged bias during the September 10 presidential debate.
Conservative commentators claimed the moderators were constantly fact-checking Trump while giving Harris a free pass.
Additionally, an anonymous whistleblower claimed that ABC had asked questions of the Harris campaign ahead of the debate.