This past Saturday, the Associated Press and all major media outlets projected that President-elect Joe Biden would defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election after winning the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, surpassing the 270 electoral votes needed to take the White House.
Trump and his team are refusing to accept these results, deploying multiple lawsuits and talking points about how the election is actually far from over.
In addition to false claims of widespread voter fraud, the Trump campaign is predictably blaming the media, saying that these outlets called the race too early for Biden, even though it's now a mathematical impossibility for Trump to win Pennsylvania—a state he can't win the White House without.
The most common talking point from the Trump campaign is that the media doesn't decide the winner of a Presidential race.
On Sunday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) appeared on Fox News, where he said, "The media doesn't decide elections."
When the President's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, learned on Saturday that the race had been called for Biden, he claimed, "Networks don't decide elections. Courts do."
In a press briefing on November 9, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the media "demands the race is over" because Biden has a "slight lead." Two days earlier, she tweeted, "The media doesn't decide who wins elections, voters do."
So people were curious when the President's eldest daughter and senior advisor, Ivanka Trump, gleefully tweeted that Trump won the reliably red state of Alaska and its three electoral votes.
BREAKING: President Trump and Senate Republicans win Alaska, overwhelmingly and by a massive 20 point spread!
Put AK in the books for @realDonaldTrump! Congratulations Senator @DanSullivan_AK!
Thank you Alaska! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/pr7Gz0S7q1
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) November 11, 2020
Her source? The Associated Press, a 174 year old non-profit news agency and one of the first outlets to call the race for President-elect Biden.
Trump's team has spent days attempting to discredit election calls from sources like the Associated Press, but Ivanka Trump didn't seem to care, since the outlet's verdict on Alaska's election was favorable for her father.
People soon began using the Trump team's own words against them.
"tHe cOrrUpT mEdiA dOesN't DeCiDe eLeCtiOns!" https://t.co/WmuY1euzs7
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) November 11, 2020
The media doesn't decide elections. Let's wait until all the votes are counted! https://t.co/ASfeAemL0n
— Patrick Graham (@gpatrickgraham) November 11, 2020
WOAH WOAH WOAH the media doesn't decide elections!!! Please wait until the state certifies the results on November 25th to make declarations like this -- follow the Constitution!!! https://t.co/mnd0gGjAV3
— Spencer Jolley, a Diet John King (@smjxmj) November 11, 2020
The hypocrisy was clear as day.
Ivanka thinks a media call is fine when it helps her father. https://t.co/f9Y2Grz09N
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 11, 2020
I'm deeply confused, since this is a projection by the AP and not a certified final count. It's almost as if "the media can't call elections" is a new standard invented in bad faith to prolong an election dispute by a few more days. https://t.co/RI6tWNtfir
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 11, 2020
.@AP also called the entire election for Joe Biden https://t.co/auamRJvUtq pic.twitter.com/oyemVCR5re
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) November 11, 2020
Local Princess-Unelect decides the @AP_Politics call *does* matter after all https://t.co/53cjoRLTAe
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 11, 2020
BREAKING: In a stunning reversal, a Trump family member and senior White House embraces the validity of an election call by the media. https://t.co/ft6U8Tuhsb
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) November 11, 2020
So the Trump position is now that the media can call states when Trump wins them but cannot call states when Joe Biden wins them. Got it. https://t.co/81rsgS63g7
— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) November 11, 2020
President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be inaugurated on the 20th of January.
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