With the presidential election just days away, both sides of this tight race are on edge. With both sides fighting for every vote, any little abnormality gets blown out of proportion.
The election between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will depend on the results in seven states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. The polls in all seven states are within the margin of error.
Several pending lawsuits are already in the swing states as both sides seek any advantage. Disney was inadvertently thrust into this tense atmosphere by a mistake in Pennsylvania.
This mistake has Trump supporters accusing Disney of election interference and the “deep state” of deciding the election.
WNEP Scranton PA already has the election results posted. @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/eWR1oABWbK
— PrisonElvis (@elivislives) October 27, 2024
Last weekend, during a Formula 1 race on Disney-owned ABC, a Pennsylvania ABC affiliate, WNEP, accidentally put a graphic on air that showed Harris winning the state by five percent. The station immediately apologized on its website, saying:
Those numbers should not have appeared on the screen, and it was an error by WNEP that they did. The numbers seen on the screen were randomly generated test results sent out to help news organizations make sure their equipment is working properly in advance of election night.
The programming error should not have been a big deal, but in a hotly contested election and on social media sites that rarely corrected false information or conspiracy theories, Trump supporters took to X to use this error to show that the fix was in for Kamala Harris.
Hey @WNEP!! Is the fix in already? Are you getting ready to help the left steal this thing again? @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump @TrumpWarRoom @RNCVoteProtect
— Jeff Gibson (@jeffgibson) October 30, 2024
As one supporter sparked more and deeper conspiracy theories, hundreds of users commented on X that “legacy media,” the “deep state,” and “Joe Biden” were somehow behind this and that the election had already been decided in some way.
Trump supporters are already angry with Disney and ABC after his disastrous performance at this year’s only presidential debate between Trump and Harris. Trump blamed the debate’s moderators and ABC executives for his performance, claiming without evidence that they gave Harris the questions ahead of time and only fact-checked his blatant lies.
Legacy media is the enemy within.
— Thomas (@DrThJefferson) October 31, 2024
After the debate, Trump vowed revenge against Disney and ABC, with one advisor saying that “Disney is F****ed if Trump wins.” This week, Trump sued CBS and 60 Minutes, claiming that the new program edited Harris’ interview to make her look better. He is suing the company for $10 billion.
Despite what Trump supporters think, the election has not been decided and most likely will not be decided until long after election day.
No matter what side of the aisle you are on, make sure you let your voice be heard by voting on November 5.