This morning, President Donald Trump sent out a slew of tweets calling the tabulating of votes into question, which forced Twitter to scramble and slap labels on them.
Now, his surrogates are employing the same strategy, declaring victory in Pennsylvania as the state continues to count its votes, which are expected to break for former Vice President Joe Biden in the coming days.
On a call with reporters, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien reportedly said that the campaign is “declaring a victory in Pennsylvania.”
No official outlets have called the race, and all votes haven’t been counted. According to the New York Times, 84% of the ballots have been counted and Trump holds a lead of about 320,000.
At a speech last night, Trump boasted about their lead in the state, which was then closer to 600,000, and called it insurmountable. And now that Trump’s campaign manager has given the green light, Trump surrogates are flooding Twitter with claims he won Pennsylvania.
Twitter is playing whack-a-mole with major accounts that are trying to push a narrative that isn’t backed up by a final vote count.
The president’s son, a campaign account, and his press secretary have all touted the victory.
Given this is the first election Twitter has attempted to do this, it’s yet to be seen if these notifications will have any effect. But the great concern is what happens when the final tally comes in, and the results differ from these boasts.
More election 2020 coverage
