Ed Gillespie Changed His Birthday on Twitter to Have Balloons on Election Day – But Then Lost

In the throes of defeat, nobody on the candidate’s team seemed to remember to change the birthday back — and turn off those balloons

It was a sad night for Republicans Tuesday, with aspiring officeholders wiped out in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere. The night, however, may have most painful for Ed Gillespie.

Once locked in a close race in Virginia’s gubernatorial race against Democrat Ralph Northam, Gillespie held out hope for a surprise upset, even changing his birthday to Election Day on his Twitter account to spark the social network’s streaming balloons function when people visited his page.

Gillespie ultimately lost to Northam by more than 200,000 votes. And in the throes of defeat, nobody on the candidate’s team seemed to remember to change the birthday back to his actual birthday, August 1– and turn off those balloons.

Visually, it looked something like this.

The balloons streamed all night even as the candidate offered an emotional concession speech.

As of Wednesday morning, Gillespe’s official Twitter page still recorded his birthday as November 7.

Reps for Gillespie did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Needless to say, the Internet had a field day.

https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/928083930556911617

https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/928118086577938432

https://twitter.com/MoMoButFaster/status/928088872243916800

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