Iowa senator congratulates losing team on ‘big win’

An Iowa senator tweeted her congratulations on Saturday to the Hawkeyes football team on “the big win” — except the team lost the Big Ten Championship to Michigan State. 

{mosads}“Congrats @hawkeyefootball on the big win!” Sen. Joni Ernst (R) tweeted near the end of the game. The Spartans scored a touchdown with 27 seconds left on the clock, ending Iowa’s perfect season and kicking them out of the College Football Playoffs.

The tweet was deleted about 10 minutes later, according to the Des Moines Register, and was blamed on a “staff error.” 

“Sorry for staff error,” Ernst apologized via Twitter. “@hawkeyefootball had a great season. Extraordinary effort tonight.” 

Sorry for staff error. @hawkeyefootball had a great season. Extraordinary effort tonight.

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 6, 2015