‘It’s a long day’: ABC election expert almost declares a result for NORTH KOREA in US presidential race
- ABC election analyst Antony Green confused North Carolina for North Korea
- He also verbally mixed up American states of Missouri and Michigan on live TV
- Green had been doing ABC news presentations on the US election all afternoon
ABC election analyst Antony Green came close to declaring a result for North Korea while giving an update on the US presidential race.
The longstanding election expert was near the end of a marathon election count, providing updates on the American electoral college count on the ABC’s coverage before giving more forecasts for Planet America later that night.
The long haul of live television began to take its toll shortly after 9.30pm on Wednesday when Green examined President Donald Trump‘s narrow path to being re-elected by pointing at an interactive map.
‘Because of the loss of Arizona, Donald Trump needs Georgia, North Carolina – I nearly said North Korea,’ Green said.
The ABC’s election analyst almost mistakenly declared a result for North Korea as he gave an update on the US presidential race. Antony Green had been on air for ABC news all afternoon, providing updates on the American electoral college count, before providing more forecasts for Planet America later that night
Moments earlier, Green verbally confused the safe Republican state of Missouri with the battleground northern state of Michigan, before correctly himself.
‘If Joe Biden wins Wisconsin and Missouri – sorry Michigan – it’s a long day,’ he said.
Planet America co-host John Barron sympathised with his fatigue.
‘Antony, thank you so much for staying up after a long day. We really appreciate that,’ he said.
Democrat challenger Joe Biden was close to winning the 2020 presidential election by Thursday afternoon Australian time, with TV networks calling Wisconsin and Michigan for him, which would give the former vice president the necessary 270 votes to win the electoral college.
Democrat challenger Joe Biden is now the favourite to win the 2020 presidential election, with American TV networks calling Wisconsin and Michigan for him, which would give the former vice president the necessary 270 votes to barely win the electoral college
‘After a long night of counting it’s clear we are winning enough states to win the presidency,’ he said on Wednesday, American time.
‘I am not here to declare that we won but I am here to report that when the count is finished we believe we will be the winners.
‘We have won Wisconsin by 20,000 votes. In Michigan, we lead by over 35,000 votes and its growing. We have a substantially bigger margin than Trump won Michigan in 2016.’
President Donald Trump had become the first incumbent Republican to lose Arizona since Herbert Hoover in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression.
Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris also came close to carrying Georgia, which the Democrats haven’t won since Bill Clinton was re-elected in 1996, and neighbouring North Carolina.
They flipped Arizona, a state the Democrats had only won twice since World War II, with Harry Truman in 1948 and Mr Clinton in 1996, making President Trump the first Republican incumbent to lose it since Herbert Hoover in 1932 during the Great Depression.
President Trump appears to have held Ohio and Florida, which would make Mr Biden the first candidate to win the election without winning these traditional bellwether states since Democrat John Kennedy narrowly defeated incumbent Republican vice president Richard Nixon in 1960.
The 2020 election result, amid a coronavirus pandemic, is also the closest race since 2000, when Texas Republican governor George W. Bush was elected despite losing the popular vote by half a million to Democrat vice president Al Gore.