If Bart Simpson ever runs for office, he already knows to wait for Karl Rove to indicate when the time is right to delay victory. At least, that’s what he wrote on a chalkboard in ‘The Simpsons’ opening credits on Sunday.
The long-running animated TV series took a shot at Rove for his commentary on Fox News on election night after the network called Ohio and the overall presidential election for Barack Obama. Rove derided the network for announcing a winner before all of the votes had been counted.
‘The Simpsons’ has a history of making political statements through humor, including this season when they had nuclear power plant owner Mr. Burns endorse Mitt Romney. There was also a scene in which Homer Simpson votes for Mitt Romney and, in return, the voting machine offers him the opportunity to “see his tax returns.”
The opening credits of each episode peek inside a classroom window at Springfield Elementary School to see Bart Simpson writing a sentence over and over on the chalkboard. Often, the sentences, which are not always different, make fun of current events and pop culture.
On election night, Rove debated anchors and the Fox News team of statisticians who were studying numbers as exit polls and ballot counts were released for announcement.
When the network called Ohio, and not too long after called the entire race for Obama, Rove insisted it was too early based on county voting records across the state and the number of votes yet to be reported by precincts.
Election night lead anchor, Megyn Kelly, as well as others participating in Fox’s coverage that night, continued to report what was going on around the country as Rove disagreed vehemently with the numbers.
“They are not listening to Karl,” Kelly said as the network showed Obama supporters celebrating in Chicago. “They don’t care what Karl said.”