Trump Campaign and Family Declares Victory in Pennsylvania Before State Called and Votes Counted
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s family and campaign members falsely declared a victory in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, before the state counted all the votes or called the race themselves, and before any major media outlet issued a projection.
According to Tessa Berenson, a White House correspondent for Time, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien declared victory in the state during a call prior to the press conference.
Bill Stepien on press call: “We are declaring a victory in Pennsylvania. This is not based on gut or feel. This is based on math.”
— Tessa Berenson (@tcberenson) November 4, 2020
“We are declaring a victory in Pennsylvania,” he said. “This is not based on gut or feel. This is based on math.”
CBS’s Weijia Jiang added that Stepien said it will be “clear to the entire nation” that Trump has won the election by the end of the week.
They also declared a victory in Pennsylvania, and said that by the end of this week it will be “clear to the entire nation” that President Trump is staying in the White House for another four years. https://t.co/1NsJaZU4hC
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) November 4, 2020
The president’s son Eric Trump and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also took to Twitter to share the claim:
We have won Pennsylvania!
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 4, 2020
VICTORY for President @realDonaldTrump in PENNSYLVANIA ‼️
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) November 4, 2020
Students For Trump and the Trump Team also took to Twitter to share the presumptuous news:
PENNSYLVANIA COMING IN! pic.twitter.com/rmALyUQC5E
— Students For Trump (@TrumpStudents) November 4, 2020
President @realDonaldTrump wins #Pennsylvania! pic.twitter.com/5BUwYMxaby
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) November 4, 2020
Twitter has labeled the tweets from the Trump team, noting that the claims were made before official sources called the race.
“Official sources may not have called the race when this was Tweeted,” reads the tag.
