MSNBC Puts Florida Vote-Count Total Onscreen 24 Hours Early

Fact checked
November 6, 2018 Baxter Dmitry News, US 1
MSNBC yesterday briefly put a graphic onscreen that showed vote count totals for the hotly contested Florida gubernatorial race — you know, the one being held today.

MSNBC yesterday briefly put a graphic onscreen that showed vote count totals for the hotly contested Florida gubernatorial race — you know, the one being held today.

According to MSNBC’s onscreen graphic, Democrat Andrew Gillum finishes ahead of his Republican rival Ron DeSantis by 45,664 votes with 99% of the ballots counted.

“Quick clarification here,” a clearly embarrassed All In host Chris Hayes announced. “Just want to say, earlier this hour, uh, we showed a graphic of the Florida gubernatorial race. May have caught your eye because our system had inadvertently populated some test numbers. Obviously, we do not yet have any vote totals here, the night before the election. That was a misfire. Don’t worry. I was pretty confused when I saw it up there, to see it myself.”

Of course, MSNBC had Democrat Andrew Gillum leading the GOP’s Ron DeSantis by six-tenths of a percentage point with 99% of the ballots counted.

The “misfire” raised eyebrows on Twitter, with many conservative pundits wondering whether the false results are the result of MSNBC’s “wishful thinking” or whether the fix is in and MSNBC have advance knowledge of the final “results.”

Other people speculated it may have been a tactic designed to discourage Republicans from bothering to vote, similar to the way mainstream media announced Hillary Clinton was statistically a near-certain winner days before the 2016 election.

It’s going to be a long day and night in America — and around the world — on Tuesday, so stick with NewsPunch for coverage of the key national races along with what’s going on here in California.

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry is a writer at News Punch. He covers politics, business and entertainment. Speaking truth to power since he learned to talk, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one. Live without fear.
Email: baxter@newspunch.com
Baxter Dmitry

Latest posts by Baxter Dmitry (see all)