The Washington Post accidentally publishes a story saying Joe Biden is running for president


While Vice President Joe Biden has flirted with announcing a presidential campaign for months now, all the back and forth speculation has left those outside of his tightest inner circle wondering what on Earth is going on. Who, then, can blame The Washington Post for wanting to beat everyone to the news when the time comes? The time hadn't come Monday evening, however, when the Post published Biden's "announcement" under the headline, "Biden to launch a presidential campaign," Politico reports.
The author of the piece, Paul Kane, explained on Twitter that the publication of the piece was a "technical glitch" and that the article was simply a "just-in-case/when-we-know story." Kane added in another tweet that, "Finally, to be clear, we don't know if it's a yes or a no. Full disclosure: I have a he-says-no-story also written."
While it's doubtful The Washington Post's slip was a broken embargo (Kane said the article published accidentally while a video was being embedded), there was in fact speculation Monday morning that Biden would make an announcement one way or the other at some point in the next 48 hours. That leaves about 26 hours remaining for The Washington Post to maybe publish their article for real.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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