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State Depart. Website Says ‘Trump’s Term ‘Ended’ After 7 PM Tonight; Edited By ‘Disgruntled Staffer’


A bizarre “biography” page on the State Department website said that Donald Trump’s presidential term “ended” after 7 p.m. tonight.


The minutes and seconds on the time appeared to change each time it was refreshed, but did not appear to align with the current time in any way.


(PS) FWIW, I accessed the site at 3:02 PM ET, so the time in the screenshot above (7:49 PM) is not—as some are saying—UTC time. There may well be a computer glitch here, I don’t know. Other screenshots have shown other times. But all are today, and State has not explained it yet. — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) January 11, 2021

“FWIW, I accessed the site at 3:02 PM ET, so the time in the screenshot above (7:49 PM) is not—as some are saying—UTC time. There may well be a computer glitch here, I don’t know. Other screenshots have shown other times. But all are today, and State has not explained it yet,” Newsweek columnist Seth Abramson tweeted.


The page can be viewed here.


Sources reportedly told Buzzfeed News that a “disgruntled staffer” was behind the edit.

UPDATE: Sources tell @BuzzFeedNews a “disgruntled staffer” is behind the State Department site’s change of Trump and Pence’s biographies. More TK. https://t.co/5Gbb3cEhRK — Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 11, 2021

Journalists and political commentators have been speculating on Twitter that it is either an error for a premade page meant to go live when his term ends, that they were hacked, or that something more sinister is happening — but the State Department has not yet released an explanation.

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