GOP prematurely publishes victory declaration ahead of vice presidential debate

    Christopher Wilson
    Editor
    Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at a campaign rally in Fort Wayne, Ind. (Photo: Darron Cummings/AP)
    View photos
    Indiana Gov. Mike Pence at a campaign rally in Fort Wayne, Ind. (Photo: Darron Cummings/AP)

    Though there was not much of question which candidate each official party websites would be declaring winners after Tuesday evening’s vice presidential debate, the Republican National Committee got off to an early start.

    Around 7:00 p.m. ET, Twitter users started flagging stories already on GOP.com that praised Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence for his clear victory over opponent Tim Kaine. The story — which has since been deleted — read:

    “Mike Pence made the most of his opportunity to debate Hillary’s VP pick Tim Kaine. The other clear winner from tonight’s debate was Donald Trump. His running mate perfectly shared Trump’s vision to make America great again and that message is resonating with Americans all across the country.”

    “Americans from all across the country tuned in to watch the one and only Vice Presidential debate. During the debate we helped fact check and monitor the conversation in real time @GOP. The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate.”

    The page also predicted that the top moments of Pence’s night were “Economy” and “Highlighting Hillary’s scandals.”


    That was not the only story published and then deleted Tuesday night. There were also posts entitled “5 Questions Tim Kaine was NOT Asked” and “10 Things Voters are Saying About the Debate.” While it is certainly not unusual for campaigns or news organizations to pre-write stories for immediate publication during or after an event, the stories going live hours early is another mishap in a tough stretch for the Trump campaign.

    The stories have all been deleted from the official GOP website.

    • Was SpaceX's Exploding Falcon 9 Rocket Sabotaged?
      The Drive

      Was SpaceX's Exploding Falcon 9 Rocket Sabotaged?

      The investigation into the September explosion of a SpaceX rocket has taken a strange turn, as a SpaceX employee requested access to a competitor's property that had a clear line of sight to the spacecraft's launchpad to see if there was evidence of anything unusual, The Washington Post reports. As part of the investigation, a SpaceX employee reportedly asked competitor United Launch Alliance if he or she could be shown the roof on a building that is near what would have been the rocket's launch site. According to the Post, SpaceX had screenshots revealing a shadow on the roof in one frame, followed by a white spot in a later one.

    • Kerry says US still in 'pursuit of peace' in Syria
      AFP

      Kerry says US still in 'pursuit of peace' in Syria

      US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted Tuesday that Washington was still seeking peace in Syria, but said it had dropped ceasefire talks with Russia because of "outrage' over Moscow's support for the regime. Kerry accused Moscow of turning a "blind eye" to the use by President Bashar al-Assad's forces of weapons including chlorine gas against rebels and civilians in Syria.

    • Reuters

      Teen suspect in South Carolina school shooting faces second murder charge

      A charge formerly filed as attempted murder was upgraded to murder after 6-year-old Jacob Hall, who was shot during Wednesday's incident at Townville Elementary School in the northwest part of the state, died on Saturday, Solicitor Chrissy Adams said in a statement. Hall's funeral was scheduled for Wednesday. Last week, the teen suspect was charged in the 10th Judicial Circuit court with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

    • The Ford Bronco Is Definitely Coming Back​​, UAW Boss Reports
      The Drive

      The Ford Bronco Is Definitely Coming Back​​, UAW Boss Reports

      "We hate to see the products go to Mexico, but with the Ranger and the Bronco coming to Michigan Assembly that absolutely secures the future for our people a lot more than the Focus does," Johnson told The Detroit Free Press in response to claims from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Ford would be harming Americans by moving production to Mexico.

    • Internet of Scary Things: IoT Hacking Tool Goes Public
      Tech Media Network (Tom's Guide)

      Internet of Scary Things: IoT Hacking Tool Goes Public

      Adding connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices — such as smart TVs, smart-home gadgets, gaming consoles and even Wi-Fi routers — to a home provides plenty of convenience, but without security, it may help create botnet armies that can be used to take down even well-defended websites. Take, for example, Mirai ("future" in Japanese), a piece of Linux botnet malware that infected thousands of unsecured IoT devices and sent a massive wave of bandwidth-hogging data — the largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack ever recorded — that forced the noted security news site KrebsOnSecurity to go offline for a day last month.

    • Court won’t rehear immigration case, Redskins case denied
      National Constitution Center

      Court won’t rehear immigration case, Redskins case denied

      Without comment, the Supreme Court on Monday turned down the Obama administration’s request for a new hearing on the legality of the President’s ambitious immigration policy.  That sets the stage for the case to move forward to a trial in a Texas federal courtroom.  It likely will mean that there will be no final decision before President Obama has left office next January.  Meanwhile, the policy remains on hold under lower court orders. Issuing 71 pages of orders on the formal opening day of a new Term, the Court refused to consider a case testing the Washington pro football team’s legal right to continue using the trademarks it has long had for its name, the Redskins.  Those marks have been cancelled by a federal trial judge, but the case is now moving forward in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

    • Erdogan criticises delay in promised EU funds for refugees
      AFP

      Erdogan criticises delay in promised EU funds for refugees

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused the European Union of delaying the delivery of three billion euros promised under a landmark deal to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. What's promised is three billion euros... The year is coming to its end," Erdogan said in televised comments in the capital Ankara. In exchange for cutting the flow of migrants pressing the doors of EU member states, Brussels has offered Ankara a number of incentives including the promised three billion euros ($3.4 billion), visa-free travel and accelerated membership talks.

    • 10 Things to Know for Today
      Associated Press
      2

      10 Things to Know for Today

      Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:1. TRUMP TAX DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED WITHOUT PERMISSIONBut experts say The New York Times appears to be on solid First Amendment ground and prosecutors

    • Christian Science Monitor

      May announces Brexit timetable as British pound tumbles

      In a Sunday speech to her Conservative Party's annual conference, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will pull the trigger on Article 50 – the clause established in the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which allows countries to divorce from the European Union – by March of 2017, an announcement followed by a drop in the value of the pound sterling, as it fell to some of the lowest post-Brexit levels yet. Following the Birmingham speech, however, the value of the pound plummeted to a three-year low against the euro, and its lowest value against the dollar since early July, shortly after the Brexit vote originally passed.

    • Dear Europeans: Please Stop Talking and Listen to Me Now
      The Drive

      Dear Europeans: Please Stop Talking and Listen to Me Now

      Rant 2: Just because your government teaches you to drive a manual gearbox, doesn’t mean they are teaching you correctly. Last week, I posted a video on my YouTube channel, The Smoking Tire, in which I did my very best to give a tutorial on how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Europeans, we need to talk about your reactions to this video.

    • SitRep: China and Russia Make Power Play; Moscow Pulls Out of Nuke Deal
      Foreign Policy Magazine

      SitRep: China and Russia Make Power Play; Moscow Pulls Out of Nuke Deal

      China and Russia are making plays for top peacekeeping and political offices at the United Nations, worrying some that two nations with abysmal human rights records and little regard for political liberties could soon push the international body in a direction many of its members don’t want to go. U.N. officials tell FP’s Colum Lynch that Beijing is positioning to run the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which has been headed by French nationals for nearly 20 years, while Moscow is said to be gunning for the Department of Political Affairs, which former U.S. State Department officials have headed for the past decade. “Beijing’s apparent interest in running global peacekeeping operations dovetails with its increasing evolution toward a more interventionist approach in international affairs,” Lynch writes.

    • Accused Face-Biting Frat Boy Charged With First-Degree Murder
      Inside Edition

      Accused Face-Biting Frat Boy Charged With First-Degree Murder

      Austin Harrouff, 19, was either in a coma or unable to speak for most of his stay at St. Mary’s Hospital, leaving authorities unable to question him about the August 15 incident that left Michelle Karen Mishcon, 53, and her husband Joseph Stevens III, 59, dead in their driveway. Concerned about his behavior, the teen’s family called police and his fraternity brothers of FSU’s Alpha Delta Phi to help find him.

    • Reuters

      Ohio to resume executions in January after three-year pause

      The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) said it would proceed in January with the scheduled execution of Ronald Phillips, convicted and sentenced to death for the 1993 rape and murder of a 3-year-old girl. Phillips, 42, would be the first Ohio inmate put to death since January 2014. Ohio, one of 31 U.S. states with capital punishment, instituted a death penalty moratorium in 2015 due to difficulty in obtaining the drugs needed to perform lethal injections.

    • Tesla, Michigan, and How To Save The American Car Industry
      The Drive

      Tesla, Michigan, and How To Save The American Car Industry

      Crain’s latest piece “Elon Musk is Simply Wrong” is so hilariously transparent and inept in its shilling for friends and neighbors who own car dealerships and sit in state government, it is actually unworthy of The Onion. Let me add that I've never worked for Tesla. As for Tesla, I don’t own one, I’ve never owned their stock, and I’ve never met Elon Musk.

    • Worst Advice: Daymond John
      ABC News Videos
      2

      Worst Advice: Daymond John

      Shark Tank's Daymond John shares the worst piece of advice he's ever received, with Rebecca Jarvis on Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvis: Worst Advice.

    • Deadly house explosion in the Bronx
      Yahoo News Photo

      Deadly house explosion in the Bronx

      A battalion chief who had been considered a rising star in the New York Fire Department was killed Tuesday, Sept. 27, when a row house exploded as he was supervising an evacuation following the report of a gas leak. Authorities are looking into whether

    • Turkey police shut down pro-Kurdish channel live on air
      AFP

      Turkey police shut down pro-Kurdish channel live on air

      Turkish police on Tuesday raided the Istanbul headquarters of prominent pro-Kurdish television channel IMC TV, cutting all its transmissions while it was live on air. In dramatic scenes, police raided the IMC TV headquarters and stopped broadcasts despite protests by staff who thronged the studio, its own live pictures showed. The channel was one of several outlets ordered closed last week under Turkey's controversial state of emergency imposed in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

    • Center for Public Integrity

      Trump group's Iranian bank dealings draw condemnation

      Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign criticized Donald Trump for putting “his own business interests ahead of the national interest” in response to revelations that Trump’s real-estate organization had done business with an Iranian bank later linked to terrorism and Iran’s nuclear program. The campaign was reacting to a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Center for Public Integrity that the Trump Organization had rented office space in New York from 1998 to 2003 to Bank Melli, a bank that U.S. authorities designated in 1999 as an Iranian government-controlled business. U.S. officials later alleged that the bank had been used to move money to support Iran’s nuclear program and an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that has sponsored terror attacks.

    • Watch This Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Nearly Crash Into a Crowd
      The Drive

      Watch This Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 Nearly Crash Into a Crowd

      What is it about the combination of Ford Mustangs and Cars & Coffee get-togethers that frequently inspires so much vehicular tomfoolery? As what appears to be a Lightning Blue Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 pulls onto the road, the driver gives the 526-horsepower monster some gas, kicking out the tail as it pulls onto the road.