A flurry of conspiracy theories erupted after the ABC station aired official election results for Pennsylvania, showing Kamala Harris easily winning the key state — more than a week before Election Day.
The shocking result appeared at the bottom of the screen during Sunday’s broadcast of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix by ABC’s local affiliate WNEP-TV, which serves the northern part of the Keystone State.
It showed the vice president winning 52% of the vote, while Republican challenger Donald Trump received 47%, with 100% of precincts reporting.
The graphic caused a stir on social media, leading to claims of election rigging.
One user posted on X: “The fraud continues.”
WNEP-TV said the results appeared on the screen in “error” and that they were “randomly generated” as part of a test ahead of the November 5 election.
The station reported, “Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was an error on WNEP’s part that they did.” The Daily MailWho first reported the story.
“The numbers visible on the screen were randomly generated test results sent to news organizations to help ensure their equipment was functioning properly ahead of election night.”
The broadcaster continued: “The numbers do not reflect any actual vote count. Pennsylvania law does not allow mail-in ballots to be taken out of their envelopes until 7:00 a.m. on Election Day, and no votes will be counted in Pennsylvania until polls close at 8:00 p.m., WNEP regrets the error. And apologies for any confusion. “We have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again.”
According to this, Trump is ahead in Pennsylvania by a very slim margin of 0.7%, with 48.2% to Harris’s 47.5%. Data from Real Clear Politics.
In the 2020 election, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by the slimmest of margins, defeating Trump by 80,555 votes or 1.17% – and snatching the state’s 20 electoral votes to win the presidency.
ABC-owned station with a bias for bias. reuters
Trump supporters began circulating footage from WNEP-TV’s broadcast, and began weighing in on the error.
“ABC is cheating for the Democrat machine. Their license should be cancelled,” wrote one user.
Another person said: “If the same graphics come out after November 5 with the same percentage and same vote count, it would be highly suspicious. And the media wonders why no one trusts them?”
Disney-owned ABC faced criticism during the election season, following the network’s broadcast of the presidential debate on September 10. critics alleged ABC News and moderator David Muir and Bias’s Lynsey Davis In favor of Harris.
Conservative commentators claimed that the moderators continued to do so. Fact-check Trump, while he left Harris alone.
There have also been dueling profiles from wall street journal And new York Times, Description of the close friendship between Harris and Disney executive Dana Walden, who is in the running to become the company’s CEOWhich raised eyebrows.
For his part, Walden has tried to distance himself from the Mouse House’s news division, Despite a history of political donations and fundraising efforts For Harris.
