NPR has raced to retract an election night tweet calling Vermont in Joe Biden’s favor, reporting that the state has 38 Electoral College votes up for grabs, far higher than the actual number – three. The post was quickly scrubbed.
The outlet reported that the Democratic nominee took Vermont in a tweet on Tuesday night, citing a race call by the Associated Press, however something was amiss with the graphic attached to the post. Vermont’s three electoral votes had multiplied more than tenfold to 38, prompting a swift correction from NPR and a wave of mockery from netizens, some noting the figure was “just a little off.”
Others reacted to the “news” with enthusiasm, insisting there could be “no take backs” and that Vermont – which “identifies as a big state” – had become an “electoral whale” thanks to NPR’s errant tweet.
While the slip-up was most likely a simple typo, some commentators were not ready to let the outlet – or at least its graphics team – live down the mistake, recalling that the “internet is forever.”
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