Sorry, Conservatives, NBC Did Not Leak ‘Rigged’ Election Results

Local NBC Affiliate in Chattanooga Posted What Looked Like the Results of the Presidential Election During Graphics Test

While Donald Trump is alleging simultaneously that the election is rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton and that he is going to win it in spite of projections from FiveThirtyEight and others that show him at an extreme disadvantage, a local NBC news affiliate in Chattanooga posted what appeared to be election results to the server of a news service, as early voting ended in Tennessee.

Here’s a screenshot of the now removed page:

These results obviously could not be final, since the election isn’t over yet. But conservatives are claiming it’s evidence of a rigged election by the media.

Conspiracy theory king and Donald Trump ally Alex Jones on his InfoWars website claimed: “NBC CAUGHT PREPARING HILLARY VICTORY RESULTS BEFORE ELECTION,” adding, “Pre-election ‘results’ conditioning public to accept rigged Hillary ‘victory.'” 

And the right wing website True Activist insisted, “There’s no reason for these results to be there other than their planned illegal use on Election Day.”

Actually, there is.

According to the local NBC affiliate, they were testing the graphics for election night. As they point out, “This has been the practice of news organizations for decades.”

Their “results” have Hillary Clinton winning with 42% of the popular vote, with Donald Trump two points behind. According to FiveThirtyEight’s projections, both of these numbers will likely be low. The tracking site currently has Hillary Clinton winning with 48.5% and Trump trailing three points behind.

In spite of the affiliate’s explanation, some Trump supporters have taken to Twitter with what they see as validated concerns about election fraud.  

This same conspiracy was sparked in 2012, when both an ABC affiliate and a CBS affiliate both published early election “results” as a graphics test. The CBS affiliate had President Obama entering his second term with 43% of the vote, with Mitt Romney at 40%. In the ABC graphic, only Ohio and Indiana’s results were reported.

Neither number turned out to be accurate. President Obama won his second term with 51% of the popular vote, and Mitt Romney finished the race with 47%.

 

Image by Disney | ABC Television Group via Flickr and a CC license