New York Times Editorial Board Member Mara Gay and MSNBCâs Brian Williams are being questioned about a mathematical breakdown of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloombergâs campaign.
On Thursday, Gay appeared on âThe Eleventh Hourâ with Williams, where they discussed Bloombergâs campaign and an interesting tweet circulating on Twitter.
The tweet read, âBloomberg spent $500 million on ads. The U.S. Population, 327 million. He could have given each American $1 million and have had lunch money left over.â
Gay and Williams both agreed the numbers raised concerns. âItâs an incredible way of putting it,â Williams said.
Gay also echoed Williamsâ sentiments. âItâs an incredible way of putting it,â Itâs true. Itâs disturbing.â
Check out the interview clip.
However, Twitter users were concerned for a different reason. The person who posted the original tweet criticized Bloombergâs campaign based on incorrect math.
Many have tweeted their reactions to the mathematical oversight offering a correct answer to the equation. When $500 million is divided between 327 million people, each person would only around $1.53 â nothing near $1 million.
One Twitter user offered the same breakdown. He tweeted, âSo just put that tweet up seriously that said that Bloomberg spent $500 million and there are 300 million people in the U.S. so that means he could have given everyone in the U.S. a million dollars. Come on Brian Williams. Itâs $1 and change.â
Check out some of the other reactions:
In wake of the debate over the figures, Mekita Rivas âauthor of the original tweet and Washington Post writerâ has made her Twitter account private. Her bio now says, âI know, Iâm bad at math.â
MSNBCâs âThe Eleventh Hourâ also tweeted an apology for the âbad math.â
âTonight on the air we quoted a tweet that relied on bad math. We corrected the error after the next commercial break and have removed it from later editions of tonightâs program. We apologize for the error,â the tweet read.
