A viral clip from CNN’s election night coverage has led many internet users to claim falsely that Vice President Kamala Harris did not outperform President Joe Biden’s 2020 election results in “a single county” in the U.S.
That claim is false. While CNN anchor Jake Tapper reacted on-air to an election map that he believed showed Harris outperforming Biden in “not one county,” fellow anchor John King quickly corrected Tapper—the map showed that Harris didn’t outperform Biden in a single state “by 3 percent or more.”
However, a version of that clip that spread across social media platforms did not include King’s correction, leading users to falsely claim Harris did not outperform Biden in a single county.
“Jake Tapper is absolutely SHOCKED by the map showing that Kamala didn’t outperform Biden in a single county,” the X account “Libs of TikTok” tweeted to its 3.7 million followers. “She’s a total loser!”
Fox News commentator Sean Hannity posted the video clip to Facebook, with the caption, “‘Fake’ Jake Tapper Is Absolutely Shocked that Kamala Didn’t Outperform Biden in a Single County.” “I love this video of Jake Tapper in shock that Kamala didn’t out perform Biden anywhere,” Abigail Jackson, communications director for Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, tweeted.
Some users have linked the video to baseless claims of election fraud in the 2020 election. One X user, replying to a tweet from right-wing internet personality Benny Johnson, shared the video in a tweet that’s received more than 750,000 views. “Not one county,” the X user, Duane Harrison, tweeted with the video. “It’s as if they cheated last time!”
A longer clip from that broadcast features CNN anchors King and Tapper at nearly 2 a.m. on election night discussing the results on the network’s interactive “Magic Wall” map. “So, you asked, are there any places where the vice president is overperforming Joe Biden in 2020,” King said, pulling up a map. “So, we can show you that as well.”
“Holy smokes,” Tapper exclaimed to the completely gray map. “Literally nothing? Literally not one county?” King then quickly corrected Tapper, explaining that the map 1) showed states where Harris outperformed Biden “by 3 percent or more” and 2) displayed results by state, not by county.
King then displayed a different map, showing Harris outperforming Biden by 3 percent or more in 58 total counties. Including Washington D.C., the United States has 3,144 counties.
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The Dispatch
