When the Democratic Party comes up with a narrative that it wants to push, it can always rely on supporters in the leftist media to promote the partisan talking points. Such was the case on NBC’s Today show Tuesday morning, when correspondent Tom Costello hyped the fears of a Democratic data analysis firm that election night would show a “red mirage” of Donald Trump being ahead in vote tallies, but than Joe Biden would eventually win after days and weeks of counting mail-in ballots.
“Election night projections are usually made as soon as the polls close,” the reporter explained at the top of the segment, before fretting, “But this fall, concerns over COVID-19 will upend how Americans vote, millions expected to vote by mail.” Continuing to sow doubt, Costello concluded: “All of that could lead to delays and uncertainty, at least initially, about who the winner actually is.”
Having laid the groundwork for the DNC narrative, Costello launched into the argument that Election Day results may not be accurate:
There are some early indications that how Americans vote is divided along party lines. According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, supporters of Joe Biden are more likely to vote by mail than supporters of President Trump. And now, Hawkfish, a Democratic data analysis firm founded by Michael Bloomberg, is forecasting a possible red mirage where President Trump is significantly ahead on election night before all the mail-in votes, many of them blue, are counted.
After interviewing Hawkfish CEO Josh Mendelsohn about the “red mirage” theory on September 1, Axios touted the group’s coordinated messaging campaign:
Hawkfish is not just trying to educate the public about the possibility that Trump could prematurely declare victory, or try to delegitimize a Biden victory if it took days or weeks to determine. The group is also trying to sensitize state and county elections officials, news and social media organizations, and the courts to the perils of premature results — and to the possibility of Trump and his team applying challenges and political pressure to reject a high share of mailed-in ballots counted after election day.
Both Axios and NBC are apparently eager to be pawns of the Democratic operatives.
In his report, Costello went on to warn: “And experts remind everyone election night results are preliminary and never official.” A soundbite followed of UNC Charlotte Political Science Professor Eric Heberlig laughably imploring: “It’s the job of political scientists, the media, other objective observers, to try to lay out those scenarios to the public to say, ‘Hey, this is a matter of vote counting, it’s just part of the process. There’s nothing sneaky going on here.’”
“Objective observers” in the media? If that’s who we’re supposed to rely on, then the republic is doomed.
Wrapping up the story, almost as an afterthought, Costello squeezed in a comment from the Trump campaign: “So asked about the red mirage theory, the Trump campaign says that it is unsubstantiated and a conspiracy theory, insisting the President wants a fair and free election and everybody to vote.”
Of course that response couldn’t be allowed to stand on its own, Costello adding: “However, he has suggested repeatedly that mail-in voting is ripe for fraud. Election officials say that simply is not true. There is no evidence of widespread fraud associated with mail-in voting.”
It’s funny how the concerns and fears of Democrats are always such a high priority for the press. Well, it’s easy when reporters are just told what say by the DNC and the Biden campaign.
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Here is a full transcript of the September 8 report:
7:44 AM ET
HODA KOTB: We’re back now, it is 7:43, with our new series Vote Watch. With Election Day now just two short months away.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: That is right. And because of the pandemic, we know this is gonna look a lot different from years past. Millions are expected to take advantage of expanded mail-in voting.
CRAIG MELVIN: NBC’s Tom Costello’s in Washington this morning with a look at what that could mean for the voting and for the counting process as well. Hey, Tom.
TOM COSTELLO: Hey, guys, good morning to you. So state officials are preparing for a very big increase in the amount of mailed-in absentee ballots. Over the weekend, North Carolina became the first state to start sending out thousands of ballots. But we do not have in this country universal voting. It is all state by state and the rules vary state by state. That will affect how and when and where you vote and how soon – how soon we learn the results.
In a presidential campaign unlike any other, election night is also expected to be much different this year.
TOM BROKAW: NBC News now is able to project the re-election of Ronald Wilson Reagan.
COSTELLO: A tradition for decades...
BRIAN WILLIAMS: An African-American has broken the barrier as old as the republic.
COSTELLO: Election night projections are usually made as soon as the polls close.
KRISTEN WELKER: Secretary Clinton has conceded to Donald Trump.
COSTELLO: But this fall, concerns over COVID-19 will upend how Americans vote, millions expected to vote by mail. North Carolina started sending out the first ballots of this cycle over the weekend.
KAREN BRINSON BELL [NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR]: Typically we would be responding to about 30,000 requests at this time and we’re well over 600,000.
COSTELLO: And rules for processing all of those ballots vary state by state. While 36 states can start matching signatures and verifying ballots early, 11 other states, including battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, can’t start that process until Election Day. And three, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Mississippi, are required to wait to validate ballots until the polls actually close. All of that could lead to delays and uncertainty, at least initially, about who the winner actually is.
There are some early indications that how Americans vote is divided along party lines. According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, supporters of Joe Biden are more likely to vote by mail than supporters of President Trump. And now, Hawkfish, a Democratic data analysis firm founded by Michael Bloomberg, is forecasting a possible red mirage where President Trump is significantly ahead on election night before all the mail-in votes, many of them blue, are counted.
But the top election official in North Carolina, which can start processing before Election Day, is confident that they will be able to quickly count all of their ballots.
BRINSON BELL: By the close of polls on election night, we may already have the results of about 80% of our ballots.
COSTELLO: And experts remind everyone election night results are preliminary and never official.
ERIC HEBERLIG, PH.D. [UNC CHARLOTTE POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PROFESSOR]: It’s the job of political scientists, the media, other objective observers, to try to lay out those scenarios to the public to say, “Hey, this is a matter of vote counting, it’s just part of the process. There’s nothing sneaky going on here.”
COSTELLO: And with more ways to cast a ballot, voter participation could dramatically increase. Colorado adopted universal vote by mail in 2013.
JENA GRISWOLD [COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE]: We saw an increase of 9% in Colorado, in turnout rate, when we adopted vote by mail. And by the way, evenly among Republicans and Democrats.
COSTELLO: And election officials insist while the results could be slower than previous years, the process should work.
BENJAMIN HOVLAND [COMMISSIONER OF U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION]: There may be a need for some patience this year, but it’ll get done and it’ll get done right.
COSTELLO: So asked about the red mirage theory, the Trump campaign says that it is unsubstantiated and a conspiracy theory, insisting the President wants a fair and free election and everybody to vote. However, he has suggested repeatedly that mail-in voting is ripe for fraud. Election officials say that simply is not true. There is no evidence of widespread fraud associated with mail-in voting.
It is also important that all of us start to plan how we’re going to vote right now. Election officials are urging you, find out are you registered, make sure you’re registered. For more information, NBCNews.com has a special section called Plan Your Vote, with information about how you, in your state, in your county, can go about doing that. Guys, back to you.
MELVIN: Alright, Tom Costello, a lot of important information there. Kicking off our Vote Watch series. Thank you, Tom.
