North Dakota, South Nebraska, six of one, half-dozen of the other, right?
That seems to be President Trump's view, anyway. Yesterday, Trump left people at a Nebraska rally murmuring, "Wait, what?" when he spoke of the need for him to win "both Nebraskas" in order to win re-election next Tuesday.
Can someone please tell Donald Trump that there's only one NEBRASKA? https://t.co/RLfuvdnju0— Kyle Morse (@Kyle Morse) 1603847480.0
Fact check: There is, and always has been, and likely always will be, only one, singular Nebraska.
But as we've all likely learned by now, Trump goes his own way! In Trump World, there are apparently two of the states, and he told his cheering outdoor audience near Omaha that he plans to win both.
"You know we have to win both Nebraskas, you know that right? You have two, you cut. We're gonna win both."
Gaffes and jokes aside, Trump was likely referring to the way Nebraska apportions its votes in the Electoral College.
The state is one of two in the nation, the other being Maine, that divvy up their electoral votes between the winner of the state popular vote, and the popular vote in each of its Congressional districts.
For example, in the 2008 election, John McCain carried the popular vote of the entire state of Nebraska overall, but Barack Obama won the popular vote in the Congressional district that includes Omaha and its suburbs. So Obama got one of Nebraska's electoral votes, and McCain got the other four.
It's probably this splitting of votes that Trump was speaking of in his speech, but there's one more monkey wrench in this particular quote: Nebraska splits its votes among three districts, not two.
Better change your strategy to "all three Nebraskas," Donnie!
Judge Judy Reaction GIFGiphy
Naturally, the President's weird geographical face-plant left quite an impression on Twitter.
@Kyle_A_Morse Was he thinking North and South Dakota? The man doesn't even know where he is.— terre gates (@terre gates) 1603847614.0
@Kyle_A_Morse Having a stupid POTUS is absolutely exhausting. https://t.co/Ly8XIDDlTg— Leslie (@Leslie) 1603848733.0
@lapavoni @Kyle_A_Morse Northeast and Southwest Nebraska.— Renegade0077 (@Renegade0077) 1603863617.0
@Kyle_A_Morse Trump's Base: Damn right we're going to win both Nebraskas! https://t.co/k3y9YdyWKs— Ron Ricci (@Ron Ricci) 1603858267.0
Hmmm ... Trump thinks there are two Nebraska’s. Maybe he does have a chance ... I mean, with the Supreme Court stac… https://t.co/YVb5imQhrB— Jerryt_philly (@Jerryt_philly) 1603875158.0
Is Trump's next rally being held in North Nebraska...or South Nebraska?!? He said he needs to win both Nebraskas!— AZScorpion_Tail (@AZScorpion_Tail) 1603870224.0
@RawStory If he gets both Nebraskas, he doesn't need Bowling Green. I heard they haven't recovered from the massacre as of yet.— Holy Bullies (@Holy Bullies) 1603852252.0
42% of America now believes there's two Nebraskas. https://t.co/hAQCRtttkq— Kodo And Sangha 😷💙🌎🏳️🌈♀️ (@Kodo And Sangha 😷💙🌎🏳️🌈♀️) 1603853363.0
As it stands now, polling shows that Nebraska's electoral votes are poised to split the same way next Tuesday as they did in 2008: Joe Biden is currently polling far ahead of Trump in the Nebraska Congressional district in and around Omaha.