Actor and big-time Bernie Sanders supporter Tim Robbins ignited a bit of a Twitter frenzy on Monday when he alleged that “voter fraud” is to blame for some of the Vermont senator’s losses during his run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Robbins retweeted a meme by comedian Lee Camp essentially claiming that there’s a discrepancy between exit poll results, which favor Sanders, and election results in favor of Hillary Clinton.
In case you’re not a numbers person, the message includes a strong accusation in bold white letters: “The election is being stolen” and that the “machines are being rigged.”
https://twitter.com/TimRobbins1/status/724618825824608258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It sounds very serious indeed. Except for one little problem, which the Washington Post was quick to point out in an article titled, “You need to chill out, Tim Robbins.”
After calling the Robbins rant a “very bad tweet,” The Post gives the actor a quick lesson in “Exit Polls 101.” The tone of the Washington Post article at times resembles that of an exasperated teacher forced to repeat an obvious point already covered in a previous lesson.
“Last week, we explained how exit polls work,” says the Post. “In short, the pollster (Edison Media Research) conducts interviews at polling locations, collecting a ton of demographic information about voters. Since they aren’t talking to every voter, they use statistical analysis of turnout, past and present, to estimate overall patterns — including the likely winner.”
In other words, the Post says, exit polls are not always accurate, because they’re, well, polls. And so it’s not really a conspiracy theory or fraud. Several people on Twitter seemed to agree with the Post.
https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/724751569217032193
Maybe all that time Tim Robbins spent in the hole in Shawshank prison made him down right crazy. LOL https://t.co/gVrAgrct5v
— Maggie Speaks (@MaggiesMusings) April 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/Yeggo/status/724753150113107968
It certainly looks as if Bernie's huge NY loss has drivin Tim Robbins insane,but I'm doubting it was a long journey
— Shawn Gallagher (@sgallagher9989) April 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/crl_fitzpatrick/status/724752501950451712
https://twitter.com/WhiskeyInSpace/status/724747036210257920
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/724744763006705665
Tim Robbins and his fellow Bernie Bros are having a meltdown. Going all out conspiracy theories. #leftwingnutjobs
— Lisa Grant (@lisaarbogrant) April 25, 2016
My neighbor got drunk and ran into the street yelling political gibberish- is that called "going all Tim Robbins" or "Susan Sarandon"?
— Dirty Martini Democrat💙🇺🇸🦅🇮🇱🇺🇦💛🐝🌈🍸 (@artist4ever) April 25, 2016
This Tim Robbins stuff makes me think we should have spent a few more days here celebrating Prince.
— schooley (@Rschooley) April 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/theonlyadult/status/724739723034517506
https://twitter.com/Clarknt67/status/724753499528007681