An alleged leaked Newsweek magazine cover naming Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as the winner of the election is leading many Trump supporters to claim the system is rigged.
CNN Money reported that right-leaning outlets have jumped on a tweet from a woman that contained a photo of a Newsweek cover bearing a photo of Clinton and the title, "Madam President."
The woman claimed she worked at a bookstore and shared an image of the cover.
Newsweek editor Jim Impoco responded to accusations that the magazine only produced a cover with Clinton by sending CNN Money a cover naming Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump the winner.
Newsweek itself responded to the controversy, tweeting that the covers were not produced by them, but by licensee Topix Media.
From the Editors: 2 special edition covers for 2016 election outcomes were produced by a Newsweek licensee, Topix Media, and not by Newsweek pic.twitter.com/MwC4RytGbC
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) November 7, 2016
"For the past six months Newsweek Special Editions has been piecing together a Road to the White House Tribute Issue for both major party candidates," Topix Media CEO and co-founder Tony Romando said Monday.
Romando told CNN Money that Topix decided to print physical copies of the magazine with Clinton on the cover since she is favored to win Tuesday.
Romando said if Trump wins, it will rush copies with the Trump cover to the press and Clinton covers will be thrown away.
"Two separate teams have worked to create two special editions tailored to the specific stories surrounding each candidate," he sad.
"Unlike hard news magazines, commemorative editions for sporting events, elections and unfortunately deaths are created weeks, months, and even years in advance," Romando said. "The largest publishers in America have dozens of tributes ready to print at plants across the country."
This is no different than T-shirts being printed in advance bearing the names of both competing sports teams ahead of a championship game, Romano explained.
"One minute after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series their commemorative T-shirts went on sale and the losing team's T-shirts were scrapped," Romano said. "As is customary in the collectible consumer goods community. This was a business decision. Not a political decision."
CNN Money reported that the woman who tweeted the photo deleted her Twitter account, and if she is a bookseller like she claimed, she may be out of a job for releasing an image of the magazine before it's scheduled to be on sale.
Cox Media Group
