‘Blatant lie’: Experts fact-check Trump’s ‘false assertions’ about voting and threats against key swing states
President Donald Trump is being accused of engaging in voter suppression against key swing states and repeating the same type of threats that got him impeached.
Trump kicked off Tuesday with a tantrum of a half-dozen tweets about the fake unmasking “scandal,” the fake “Obamagate” “scandal,” a false claim “nothing else” except China is responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, a false suggestion Roger Stone is innocent, a false suggestion Joe Scarborough committed murder, and two attacks on states gearing up for voting by mail.
The President is terrified of voting by mail, because it will make it easier and safer for Americans to vote. The more people vote, the fewer Republicans get elected, and he knows that.
In fact, he’s said that.
“I will tell you this. If you look at before and after, the things they had in there were crazy,” Trump said in March about Democratic proposals to the $2.2 trillion coronavirus support bill. “They had things, um, levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
Today, attacking key swing states Michigan and Nevada, Trump falsely claimed voting by mail creates “Voter Fraud,” which is false, and that even sending out applications to vote by mail is “illegal” – even though he himself votes by mail.
State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario… https://t.co/i9017leWhq— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1589980279
On social media many immediately accused him of engaging in voter suppression.
Legal and voting rights experts (and a few journalists) were quick to debunk the President’s latest lies:
States run their own elections. Congress voted the funds to support voting in Covid relief bills. Trump, who has al… https://t.co/bMkqjNDnTP— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1589977490
And, Trump is wrong on the specifics. Michigan is mailing applications for absentee ballots, not ballots themselves… https://t.co/zkNVx4xQkw— Joyce Alene (@Joyce Alene) 1589978044
Correction: @MichSoS @JocelynBenson is in compliance with all laws. Michigan voters approved no-excuse absentee vot… https://t.co/gRCOSGn6qH— Barb McQuade (@Barb McQuade) 1589984358
1. Michigan sending absentee ballot applications not ballots to voters 2. @JocelynBenson one of best Secretaries… https://t.co/OZqcvvyX9j— Ari Berman (@Ari Berman) 1589981105
On same day Trump rants against protecting safety of voters, he's packing the courts to suppress the vote. Senate… https://t.co/jaqThqaQgk— Leslie Proll (@Leslie Proll) 1589983322
Hey @Twitter, are you going to take down this blatant lie intended to misinform voters about election practices? Mi… https://t.co/nN2fmWLHZK— Vanita Gupta (@Vanita Gupta) 1589977868
Leaving aside his characteristically imbecilic misuse of quotation marks, it is manifestly clear that Trump and his… https://t.co/M0eVraG5dR— Clyde Haberman (@Clyde Haberman) 1589982589
Even though he himself voted by mail in Florida’s March primary, Trump is making a Ukraine-style threat to withhold… https://t.co/49CX90ZdoR— Chris Sommerfeldt (@Chris Sommerfeldt) 1589979684
This is false. Michigan is mailing absentee ballot applications, not ballots, to all registered voters. Georgia is… https://t.co/MTPZcwo3LX— Sam Levine (@Sam Levine) 1589977223
"Hey MIchigan, I need you to do us a favor though." https://t.co/1fGftQA9VL— Jay Bookman (@Jay Bookman) 1589978634
