Awkward moment BBC Breakfast host is called out by Ben Thompson live on air after US election snub

BBC Breakfast host Jon Kay was awkwardly called out by Ben Thompson live on air after a US election snub.

Jon, 54, made a giant blunder when he forgot to include Ben‘s name while handing back to the studio this morning.

BBC

BBC

BBC

He, instead, only gave Sally Nugent a mention while presenting from outside The White House via video link.

Finishing his piece-to-camera, he said: “They may not celebrate or mark Guy Fawkes Night here in America but expect fireworks this fifth of November. Back to Sally.”

Not realising Jon’s error, Sally replied: “Yeah, we will, John, thank you you very much indeed. What a fantastic setting as well.”

But it didn’t go unnoticed by Ben, who fumed: “I’m here too John, hi, good morning.”

Sally brushed off the error with an awkward face, joking: “Oh yeah. No, it’s all about me, he’s missing me, he’s not missing you.”

Donald Trump declared the election “ours to lose” last night as America ­prepared to go to the polls in the tightest race in more than two decades.

Kamala Harris had a wafer-thin poll lead on the eve of voting as she hammered the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania yesterday.

But in reality, the numbers were well within the margin of error, with Mr Trump insisting he is on the eve of an historic comeback.

Speaking to thousands of ­reporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, one of the seven battleground states, he said: “If we get everybody out and vote, there’s not a thing they can do.”

He also vowed a 25 per cent ­tariff on all goods from ­Mexico on his first day in office should he win tonight.

Both teams last night claimed they were “feeling good” about their numbers after an unprecedented 78 million voters had already gone to the polls early.

The two contenders pulled out all the stops — including A-List celebrities — as they spent the past 24 hours zig-zagging across the northern swing states.

Mr Trump, who survived a near-death shooting in July, attended three battleground states as the curtain comes down on the two-year election battle.

He spent the day in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan as he aimed to become only the ­second defeated leader to win a non-consecutive term.

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris made her final pitch to supporters in Pennsylvania with the support of pop stars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry to try to get her over the line.

The pair are battling over the 538 electoral college votes in the state-by-state race — with one of the candidates needing the magic 270 to win the Presidency.

But Mr Trump has admitted that he could lose the fight and has spent much of the last week trying to discredit the election.

When asked if he could lose the two-horse race, he said: “Yeah, I guess, you know, I guess you could lose, can lose.

“I mean, that happens, right?

“But I think I have a pretty substantial lead, but, you could say, yeah, yeah, you could lose.

“Bad things could happen.

“You know, things happen, but it’s going to be interesting.”

Last night, CNN’s polling aggregates had Ms Harris edging over the line to the 270 Electoral College votes needed.

How do the US presidential elections work?

BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter

The Democratic and Republican parties nominate their candidates with a series of votes – called state primaries and caucuses – in the run up to the election in November, held every four years.

This gives members the opportunity to choose who they want to lead the party into an election – this year, Donald Trump and following Biden’s resignation, Kamala Harris.

There are also some independent candidates running for president – arguably the most well-known was Robert F Kennedy Jr who pulled out in August and endorsed Trump.

In US elections the winner is not the candidate who gets the most votes across the country.

Instead Trump and Harris will compete to win smaller contests held in each of the 50 states.

Many of the states often vote the same way – but seven of them – Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona – tend to go in either direction.

Each state has a number of electoral college votes – partly based on population sizes – with a total of 538 across the country up for grabs.

The winner is the candidate that gets 270 or more, marking a majority in the electoral college.

All but two of the US’ 50 states – Maine and Nebraska – have a winner-takes-all rule.

Meaning whichever candidate gets the highest number of votes wins all of the state’s electoral college votes.

In 2016 Hillary Clinton won more votes nationally than Donald Trump – but she still lost the election because of electoral college votes.

The candidate who will win this election is the one who secures 270 or more college ballots.

Usually the winner is declared on the night, but it can take days to finalise the result.

In 2020 Joe Biden wasn’t officially announced as the president-elect until November 7.

The new president will be sworn into office in January on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC.

AFP