Biden surges, Trump explodes When the polls closed and Joe Biden proclaimed "we believe we're on track to win this election," President Trump went even further, falsely claimed victory and began to spout a torrent of falsehoods and voter-fraud conspiracies devoid of evidence. We can't say we're surprised. Trump had been crying wolf about a "rigged election" and denigrating vote-by-mail for months, never producing proof of his dark accusations that foreign powers and Republican and Democratic state election officials would somehow swamp the system with fraudulent ballots. Our Trump database shows that from April through Aug. 27, the president made more than 150 false or misleading claims about phantom ballots or imaginary dangers in mail voting. As returns started to come in, as Biden gained ground or locked down key states in the electoral college, and as journalists debunked an onslaught of misinformation alleging voter fraud, Trump went into high gear. And so did Twitter, covering many of his recent tweets with warnings about misleading election information. We fact-checked all of Trump's misleading or false post-election tweets as of Thursday afternoon, as well as an on-camera statement he gave at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday falsely claiming victory, and another White House address the next day that was rife with falsehoods. Trump: "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. We will never let them do it. Votes cannot be cast after the Polls are closed!" Trump never led in the electoral college count as various news organizations began to call states. Without evidence, he accused Democrats of trying to steal the election and suggested votes were being cast after the deadline. States do not allow votes to be cast after polls have closed, though all accept ballots postmarked by Election Day. Enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to someone else who'd like it! If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here. Did you hear something fact-checkable? Send it here; we'll check it out. Trump allies echo misinformation online As the votes were being counted, social media was a battlefield of false election claims from Trump and his allies and fact-checking from journalists, experts and state election officials. We made a guide to some of these claims, many of which were covered by Twitter with warnings about misleading information. Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.): "Joe Biden Said On Video That Democrats Built the Biggest 'Voter Fraud' Operation in History. We're seeing it on full display right now!" Greene circulated a snippet of manipulated video that originally appeared in a tweet from a Republican National Committee official and then amplified by Eric Trump, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump campaign and others. It was blocked by Facebook, and Twitter labeled Greene's tweet as misleading. Here's what happened: In a podcast interview Oct. 24, Biden was asked what he would say to people who had not yet voted. The video isolates only one part of a three-part answer. And the full remarks show Biden actually was talking about combating voter fraud: "Republicans are doing everything they can to make it harder for people to vote — particularly people of color — to vote. ... Secondly, we're in a situation where we have put together, and you guys did it for our administration — President Obama's administration before this — we have put together I think the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics. What the president is trying to do is discourage people from voting by implying that their vote won't be counted, it can't be counted, we're going to challenge it and all these things. If enough people vote, it's going to overwhelm the system. ..." We're always looking for fact-check suggestions. You can reach us via email, Twitter (@GlennKesslerWP, @rizzoTK, @mmkelly22) or Facebook. Read about our process and rating scale here, and sign up for the newsletter here. Scroll down for this week's Pinocchio roundup. | 
Email 
No comments:
Post a Comment