'Beyond belief': Hilarious math error in TV segment goes viral

A very awkward math mistake endorsed by two journalists on TV has gone viral with many questioning how they got it so wrong.

Veteran TV journalist Brian Williams, from NBC, was joined by Mara Gay, a New York Times editorial board member to discuss Mike Bloomberg who recently abandoned his bid for the US presidency.

The two journalists were discussing a tweet which claimed Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York who is estimated to be worth more than $US65 billion, could have better utilised his wealth, instead of spending it on ads in his failed presidential bid.

“Bloomberg spent $500 million on ads,” a freelance journalist tweeted on March 3, local time.

“The US population is 327 million. He could have given each American $1million and still have had money left over. I feel like a $1million check would have been life-changing for most people.

“Yet he wasted it all on ads and STILL LOST.”

The journalist who made the initial blunder has since updated her Twitter bio to “I know, I’m bad at math”.

But the error didn’t noticed in a cringe-worthy segment on NBC.

“It’s an incredible way of putting it,” Mr Williams said after reading out the tweet, to which Ms Gay echoed that it offered an incredible perspective.

“It’s true, it’s disturbing,” Ms Gay said.

“It does suggest what we’re talking about here which is there’s too much money in politics.”

It didn’t take long for viewers to poke fun at the faulty thinking.

The American population amounts to roughly 327 million. If Bloomberg was to equally distribute the money he spent on his campaign to 327,000,000 Americans, each person would receive approximately $1.50, not one million.

Snopes, a fact-checking website, crunched the numbers and reported even if Bloomberg gave the entirety of his estimated wealth, each American would receive less than $200.

For each American to be gifted $1 million Bloomberg would have to be worth $327 trillion, and be in a very generous mood.

The awkward mishap between the two journalists on television forced Mr William’s show ‘The 11th Hour’ to release a statement on Twitter.

“Tonight on the air we quoted a tweet that relied on bad math,” the statement said.

“We corrected the error after the next commercial break and have removed it from later editions of tonight’s program. We apologise for the error.”

Ms Gay also poked fun at the mistake on Twitter. “Buying a calculator, brb,” she joked.

Bloomberg funds anti-Trump operation

Although he has dropped out the of the Democratic presidential race, Bloomberg will still be throwing money around to oust Donald Trump as president in November.

The day after he bowed out of the race, an aide said the billionaire businessman will focus his money on six key ‘battleground’ states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Bloomberg has insisted his entire campaign was to take down fellow billionaire businessman, Donald Trump.

In a statement released announcing he was dropping out, Bloomberg said uniting behind one candidate was the best way to get rid of Trump.

“After yesterday’s vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great American, Joe Biden.

“I’ve known Joe for a very long time. I know his decency, his honesty, and his commitment to the issues that are so important to our country – including gun safety, health care, climate change, and good jobs.”

It is not yet clear if Bloomberg will support any other Democratic candidate against Trump.

It is unlikely Bloomberg’s operation will support Bernie Sanders should he go onto to win the Democratic nomination. Aides attached to Sander’s campaign said they do not want Bloomberg’s money.

with AAP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.