Twitter's election label now acknowledges Joe Biden as president-elect
At long last, Donald Trump's Twitter account has acknowledged that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Twitter had to do it for him, though.
A new update to some of the social media company's election labels, which are appended to tweets that bolster Trump's false claims of a stolen election, now explicitly acknowledge Biden as the winner. And since Trump tweets misinfo as easily as most people breathe, that warning has already appeared on some of his posts.
"Election officials have certified Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. Presidential election," the warning text reads. It's not clear when the change went into effect, but it's almost certainly tied to Monday's formal Electoral College vote, in which all the states certified their results as electors cast their constitutionally mandated votes ahead of the Senate's affirmation of the results on Jan. 6.
Clicking the warning link takes you to a Twitter Moment connected to the Electoral College vote.
In any other presidential election year, this kind of public affirmation of the vote's winner wouldn't be controversial, especially more than a month after polls closed. But 2020 isn't any other year and Trump isn't any other president.
The dangerously unhinged failed reality TV star has gone out of his way throughout the year to sow doubts about election security. Despite 2020 being viewed by most of the reality-accepted world as one of the most secure in U.S. history, Trump has so far refused to concede or acknowledge Biden as anything other than an election-stealer. Which is of course provably false.
In that context, Twitter's latest update represents a big moment for Trump's Twitter account. Now, whether he likes it or not, the president's preferred method of communication with the public is overtly telling all visitors exactly who won in 2020. It's not likely to alter Trump's behavior but it does serve to immediately undermine the lies peppered throughout his timeline.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
