Wisconsin First Lady Tonette Walker, wife of potential presidential candidate Governor Scott Walker (R), might want to be more careful with her posts on his official Twitter account — and with her math.
Tonette posted this message on Wednesday, marked with the “TW” initials to signify that it was written by her: “It’s hard to believe that it has been 505 years since the first settlers arrived at Jamestown. – TW.” This was apparently meant to commemorate tomorrow’s anniversary of the Jamestown settlement’s founding — but the original event wasn’t 505 years ago.
It’s hard to believe that it has been 505 years since the first settlers arrived at Jamestown. – TW pic.twitter.com/HTmnzEkuKI
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) May 13, 2015
The problem here is that the Jamestown settlement began in 1607 — and the tweet itself even contained a picture showing that year. Thus, the correct number is 408 years. (And this doesn’t even factor in the modern-day problems raised by commemorating colonial settlements without acknowledging the Native Americans who already lived here.)
After a brief round of heckling broke out on Twitter, Tonette Walker posted a follow-up message:
Twitter typo from Team Walker. Last post should have been 408 years. -TW
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) May 13, 2015
Problem is, we’re not even sure how you get from “408” to “505” via typos — or even by any typical math error, either.
But to its credit, the Walker campaign has yet to delete the erroneous tweet that got this whole thing rolling — at least, they haven’t deleted it as of yet.
Photo: Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
