Washington • Sen. Orrin Hatch is not dead.
And his office went out of its way Monday to make sure people knew that.
Late Monday, the Utahn's office tweeted a screenshot of a Google search for the senator that said he had died on Sept. 11, 2017.
“Hi.. @Google? We might need to talk,” the senator’s office tweeted.
Someone, it appears, edited the Wikipedia entry for the 84-year-old senior Republican senator saying he had passed away, resulting in a Google search that very-much-alive Hatch was gone. The Wikipedia page, which had been changed early Monday, was fixed that night.
But Hatch’s office had some fun proving the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated.
There were pictures of Hatch reading newspapers — from the last week, as evidence he wasn’t six feet under — as well as photos of him visiting with the German chancellor, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and eating bacon on his 84th birthday.
To convince even the most conspiratorial minded out there, the office tweeted out videos of him signing bills, meeting with Utah veterans and visiting his favorite restaurant, Chuck-A-Rama.
Hatch’s office even noted that while the Internet had proclaimed him dead — about 12 hours in all — the senator helped advance three bills.
“Even in death, Hatch remains one of the Senate’s most prolific legislators,” the office proclaimed.
Commentators, too, had their fun with the inadvertent death notice.
“We miss you more every day Senator,” tweeted Seth Mandel, an op-ed editor of the New York Post.
Others were not so kind.
“Senator Hatch is alive and well, it’s his principles that are dead,” wrote another Twitter user.
In the end, Google came to the rescue to bring Hatch back from the dead.
“You certainly are alive and sporting a great sense of humor. We apologize for the error. We’ll have it fixed shortly,” Google tweeted at the senator.
By early Tuesday, according to Google, the senator was still living.
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