YOUR RIGHT-WING RELATIVES NOW BELIEVE GORE WAS DECLARED THE WINNER IN 2000

Is there an echo in here?

Al Gore was declared the president elect by the media for 37 days before the courts ruled against him.

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) November 9, 2020

For 36 days, Al Gore was President according to the media who announced him the winner before outstanding litigation was resolved.

There is vast amounts of evidence that is beginning to surface. I think we are looking at systemic election fraud at unbelievable levels.

— Jenny Beth Martin (@jennybethm) November 9, 2020

The right-wing pseudo-journalist and the co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots aren't alone (although Martin now seems to have deleted her tweet). The belief that the media declared Gore the inner is widespread.

Remember, AL Gore was declared the winner and next President back in 2000 too, until the courts stepped in.

— 𝕎𝔸𝕋ℂℍ𝕄𝔸ℕ (@vlc_jr) November 8, 2020

Democratic candidate Al Gore was declared US president in 2000 but within 37 days his election was declared unconstitutional by the USA supreme court and George Bush Jr. of Republican Party became President of USA.

— Deepak Adhana 🇮🇳 (@deepakadhana) November 9, 2020

And while a phony newspaper headline that was widely circulated by Trumpers over the weekend was debunked...

Uhh, the Trump campaign plastered its headquarters with a fake newspaper front page that never existed, then its communications director tweeted out the image. (H/t to @KFILE) pic.twitter.com/1OmhOCEPbh

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 8, 2020

... there's now a fake TV electoral map:

Fun fact: If the media decided when an election was over, Al Gore would have been our 43rd President. No winner is declared until states certify results & then electors vote. State delegations can still appoint enough pro Trump electors to re elect him. Its far from over. pic.twitter.com/qOLgNdUUCe

— Jared Tate ©️ (@jaredctate) November 8, 2020

Answer one question was Gore President in 2000?

The media also declared him President-elect in 2000 pic.twitter.com/qc6glUwVNw

— Bryan Garcia | #2020Is1860Again | #BlueLivesMatter (@gods10rules) November 8, 2020

I hate to break it to the people circulating this image, but there's no media organization in America called "ANN."

What did the media actually say after the election? Here's the front page of The New York Times from the day after the 2000 election:

#OTD - November 8th 2000. Bush appears to defeat Gore. Hillary Clinton goes to the Senate #nytimes pic.twitter.com/spnzQ4Tv09

— New York Times OTD (@OnThisDayNYT) November 8, 2015

Here's what the paper said about the outcome:

The lead in the popular vote switched back and forth throughout the night, with Gov. George W. Bush holding a narrow lead over Vice President Al Gore as the count went into its final hours. The all-important battle for supremacy in the Electoral College came down to Florida, and early this morning, Gov. Jeb Bush seemed to have delivered a hair's-breadth victory to his brother in that fast-growing state, putting him over the top.

But Mr. Bush's margin dwindled and dwindled until only a handful of votes separated the two candidates, throwing the picture into confusion.

And here was CNN's take:

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. This election is making history. Still too close to call between George W. Bush and Al Gore and it is all boiling down to the state of Florida.

It is now 8:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. on the West on November 8, the morning after election day.

... Let's take a look at what we're talking about today. We are talking about a presidential race still too close to call. Neither Bush or Gore have enough of the electoral votes. It's all boiling down to who gets Florida's 25 electoral votes.

And that's where it remained for roughly a month. Here was a Reuters story posted on CNN's website a week later:

Under normal circumstances, when the new U.S. president is known the day after elections, political appointees know when their time is up and start to look for new jobs.

The new president sets up a transition team to find new personnel for the top positions and starts to put flesh on the bones of the policy guidelines he set during campaigning.

This year, with no result eight days after the Nov. 7 elections and the prospect of many days to go, the U.S. State Department is running on autopilot and anxiety is spreading.

If the Democratic candidate for the presidency, Vice President Al Gore, wins in Florida, many of the political appointees could stay on and policy might change little.

If the Republic candidate, Texas Gov. George Bush, takes office, new policy-makers will move in and order a more extensive review of U.S. foreign policy.

Disinformation is spreading. It could be Russian disinformation, but it could also be homegrown. The right in America has stopped trying to win over voters with ideas and policies -- generating fear and anger seem to work much better. This kind of fakery doesn't require special expertise found only in the former Soviet bloc. It's easy. Anyone can do it.

And it works. Your right-wing relatives -- even the ones who are old enough to have vivid memories of 2000 -- now believe that the media called the election for Gore and told you he was the winner for more than a month. But that didn't happen.