Detroit TV station accidently airs mock election results, calling Michigan for Trump

(WWJ) With a week to go before Election Day, metro Detroiters watching "The Bachelorette" were informed that President Donald Trump had defeated Joe Biden in Michigan.

The head of WXYZ-TV Channel 7 has apologized for the *too soon* flub that hit television screens Tuesday evening, when the station accidently displayed mock election results as the popular romantic reality show was broadcast.

With 100% of precincts reporting, according to the graphic, Trump emerged victorious -- winning Michigan with 50% of the vote, while Biden got 44%.

The graphic also showed Republican challenger John James beating Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, 50% to 46%, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin defeating GOP contender Paul Junge, 52% to 46%.

The erroneous results displayed were random and should not imply a prediction, according to the head of WXYZ-TV -- who apologized for the embarrassing blooper in a statement provided to the Detroit Free Press.

"WXYZ inadvertently aired an election result graphic this evening as part of our testing of the systems we will use during election night coverage," said Mike Murri, WXYZ-TV vice president and general manager, in an email to the newspaper. "The results displayed were randomly generated by that system. We apologize for any confusion. We have taken steps to ensure this will not happen again."

Many viewers, including Chris Bohle, were baffled by what they saw. He tweeted: "Hey #ElectionTwitter can you tell this novice why ABC Detroit is rolling what looks like election results right now."

Hey #ElectionTwitter can you tell this novice why ABC Detroit is rolling what looks like election results right now. @NilesGApol @JMilesColeman pic.twitter.com/1MCztYbnch

— Chris Bohle (@chrisbohle) October 28, 2020

Other were suspicious, wondering if the station was hacked, or if the error could hint at some sort of conspiracy.