CBS News anchor Tanya Rivero incorrectly claimed Al Gore won the 2000 election and that the Supreme Court "awarded" the presidency to George W. Bush.
Rivero made the comments in a Tuesday interview with American University history professor Allan Lichtman. She credited Lichtman with having correctly predicted every presidential election since 1984, despite Lichtman predicting Al Gore would win in 2000.
"From 1984 through 2012, American University history professor Allan Lichtman's popular vote predictions were perfect, including the 2000 election, which the Supreme Court ultimately awarded to George W. Bush," Rivero said.
The Supreme Court did not "award" Bush the presidency in 2000. Bush won the contested state of Florida, giving him enough electoral votes to win the electoral college. Rivero was correct in stating Gore won the popular vote, but the graphic CBS News displayed during the segment—and later promoted on Twitter—did not clarify that Lichtman's predictions focused on the popular vote.
Adding to the confusion, the graphic shows Lichtman correctly predicted Donald Trump would win the 2016 election. Like Bush, Trump won the electoral college but failed to win the popular vote.
Professor who predicted last 9 presidential elections on how impeachment will impact 2020 https://t.co/i2IEeXPL3m pic.twitter.com/TlHZwVwMu6
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2019
Some Democrats, including former party chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), continued to falsely claim the Supreme Court stole the election from Gore for years after the election.