Senate candidate Mandela Barnes, who lost, called 'almost-winner' in mocked Axios report: 'So, a loser?'
Mandela Barnes lost in the Wisconsin Senate race in the November election
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An Axios report using Orwellian language to describe a failed Democratic candidate prompted mockery on Tuesday.
Wisconsin's former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes ran in the state's Senate race last November, losing to incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, R by about 26,000 votes.
But reporter Alexi McCammond's description of the race raised eyebrows on Tuesday.
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"2022 Senate almost-winner Mandela Barnes is launching a PAC to help candidates who are written off by institutional supporters, Axios has learned," McCammond wrote.
Responses to the curious turn-of-phrase poured into Twitter.
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Science fiction author J.A. Sutherland pointed out the obvious. "There is no almost-winner. There's the winner, the loser, and everyone who wasn't as good as the loser," he tweeted at the outlet.
Others mocked the phrasing as Orwellian.
"What the h--- is an almost-winner?" Public relations strategist Drew Nirenberg asked.
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Some thought the tweet was a joke.
"Is this like being almost pregnant?"Alberto de la Cruz, president of Spanglish media company teased.
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Another user asked, "So I can say I am an ‘almost winner’ of the Miss Universe pageant? Nice."
"Had to verify this tweet was real. Well, it’s real. Almost-winner," Jeremy Redfern, Deputy Press Secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admitted with a clown face emoji.
Abigail Marone was also in disbelief.
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"'Almost winner' ?????????????" the Campaign Manager for Josh Hawley tweeted. "The word you are looking for is loser," she tweeted with more clown emojis. Republican strategist Caleb Hull added, "So a loser?"
Other users mocked the "sad headline," and called Axios an "almost-news organization."
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This isn't the first time left-leaning media outlets have loaded rhetoric to describe the Wisconsin candidates.
Leading up to the state's Senate race debate, The New York Times labeled Sen. Ron Johnson a "leading peddler of misinformation" and his Democratic opponent, a "rising star."