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Journalist Katie Couric propagated the “red mirage” coping mechanism to her TikTok followers on election night, telling them swing states were only leaning red because there are “fewer votes to count” in Republican counties.

“Just a quick reminder if you’re watching the election results tonight, I just want to make you aware of something called a ‘red mirage,’” the former Today Show, CBS, and ABC correspondent told her 215,000 followers Tuesday evening:

@katiecouric

Happy #ElectionDay everyone! As you watch the election results come in tonight, you might see a “red mirage.” Here’s why. #election2024

♬ original sound – Katie Couric

“That’s when some of the rural counties come in because they’re earlier and faster, because there are fewer votes to count,” she said.

“So don’t panic if you hear people or see kind of Donald Trump winning in some of the swing states, because that happened before in 2020, and as the votes come in from bigger urban areas, the results change,” Couric continued. “So, I thought that would be helpful for you all to know as you watch everything that’s going on tonight. Anyway, happy Election Day.”

Left-wing commentator Kyle Kulinski predicted a “red mirage” days before Election Day, telling his 465,000 X followers to “be prepared for a tsunami of lies, bullshit and authoritarianism”:

Many other supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris continued to press the “red mirage” claim, telling their followers to calm down and “breathe” while each swing state turned more and more red:

“I was dead wrong. Trump has done it again,” Kulinski said in a later post, after it was announced that the former president, President-elect Donald Trump, handily beat Vice President Kamala Harris:

In a follow-up TikTok video from Couric, she shared a clip of her breakfast and said, “As you can see, I am eating my feelings”:

@katiecouric

Where I’m currently at. How’s everyone doing?

♬ original sound – Katie Couric

“Um, I’m still processing it,” the journalist continued. “Honestly, I have nothing super wise to say.”

Despite her disbelief that Trump came back and beat Harris, Couric herself previously cast doubt on the Democrat’s campaign. 

Speaking to Breakfast Club radio show co-host Charlamagne tha God in October, she said Harris came across as inauthentic in the media.

On her podcast, “Next Question with Katie Couric,” Charlamagne said, “Yeah, I think she was being authentically who she is, which is a very disciplined, seasoned veteran politician.”

“I have to beg to differ with you on that point. I think that she takes a really long time to get to her point, and that she does rely on talking points too often. I think she’s gotten much better than she used to, but it’s almost as if she’s afraid to say something that will later come back to haunt her,” Couric responded.