Last night, Kanye West uploaded invalid results of the presidential election in Kentucky that showed him winning 19% of the vote with former Vice President Joe Biden getting 14% and President Donald Trump getting 2%. A close look at West’s screenshot shows there was something obviously wrong.
At the top of the image from LEX18.com, it clearly says “100% of the precincts reporting.” That outcome is impossible since voting in the United States does not end until November 3 which means there is no way 100% of the ballots could have been counted on October 13.
This clear error did not stop West from blasting the false information to his 30 million Twitter followers or certain outlets picking up the political story as accurate. Twitter eventually added a “manipulated media” tag on two of West’s tweets claiming he received 40,781 votes in Kentucky.
In addition, LEX 18 News had to explain that the website page West was touting as a victory was a mistake. The Lexington-area news station posted on Twitter:
Someone discovered a cached web link that we used during June’s primary election to post Associated Press election results. The old link was still populating current AP data and showed test results, which is part of the preparation the AP does in advance of elections. The results shown were not valid. They were simply part of a test. We regret the discovery of the cached web link and have removed the data from that page. We apologize for any confusion.
Kanye West’s chances of actually winning the White House in 2020 are very slim. According to reports, the 43-year-old entertainer has only qualified for the presidential ballot in 12 states. A 50-state write-in campaign would be extremely difficult to pull off. He currently has no mathematical chance of winning the 270 electoral college votes needed to become the next president.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1316173724589060096?s=20
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1316225365728137216?s=20
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1316225946479861760?s=20
The results shown were not valid. They were simply part of a test. We regret the discovery of the cached web link and have removed the data from that page. We apologize for any confusion. (2/2)
— LEX 18 News (@LEX18News) October 14, 2020