Northern Pennsylvania ABC Affiliate, WNEP, aired a graphic during Formula 1 racing Tuesday night that showed Kamala Harris beating Donald Trump in the state 52% to 47% with 100% of precincts reporting. The problem is, this graphic was shown on October 29th, 2024 – one week before the November 5th, 2024 election.
Here’s a screen capture that is being shared on Twitter
What’s going on here? WNEP issued a statement:
Test results for the upcoming November 5 general election mistakenly appeared on WNEP-TV early Sunday evening during a broadcast of the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix. 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.
What do you think of this explanation? Will there be the need for more explanation next week if the results are the exact same?