John,
In the final days of the 2024 presidential election, Trump and his allies are spreading lies and conspiracies about the election, priming their supporters to distrust the results if Kamala Harris wins.
The list is staggeringly long, but before we share it, we need a moment to ask for your help.
With election lies spreading and polls closing in less than 48 hours, COURIER’s mission to fight right-wing misinformation is more important than ever. After the polls close and the results come in, we’ll still be here, publishing our fearless, factual coverage and combating the flood of misinformation that’s sure to follow.
Alright, buckle up! Here are just a few of the most toxic election lies being spread by Trump and his allies on the far right:
- Democrats are “importing” undocumented immigrants and getting them to vote for Harris: Speaker Mike Johnson and Elon Musk spread lies on X that Democrats “want to turn illegal aliens” into voters, and that "the goal all along has been to import as many illegal voters as possible.” This is patently false – only U.S. citizens can vote.
- Michigan has more registered voters than residents eligible to vote: Elon Musk claims that Michigan has not purged its voter rolls, leading to a higher number of registered voters than eligible residents. Michigan Secretary of State Joselyn Benson shot these claims down and took Musk to task for “intentionally try to cast seeds of doubt in the minds of citizens about the sanctity of our elections.”
- Haitian immigrants have voted several times in Georgia: RNC members and Elon Musk spread fake videos of “Haitian immigrants” claiming they voted for Harris in several Georgia counties. The videos were actually Russian propaganda shared by “useful idiot” Republicans.
- People are ripping up ballots cast for Trump in Pennsylvania: The viral video was shared by right-wing influencers on X and was also debunked as a Russian.
- Trump will only lose the election if it’s rigged: Donald Trump has spread this lie at several of his rallies since the start of the campaign, with zero evidence to support the idea.
- Democrats are focusing voter registration efforts on undocumented immigrants: Trump has repeatedly said this lie at his rallies. Only citizens can vote in American elections.
- Kamala Harris has secret information about how the election will turn out: Trump suggested after Harris canceled rallies for television interviews that Harris “knows something we don’t” about the election.
- Pennsylvania has received thousands of fraudulent ballots and voter registration applications: Trump made this claim on Truth Social. Election officials in Pennsylvania have debunked the claim.
We’re only halfway through, but it should be clear why we urgently need your support. Please contribute $25 or more to help protect our democracy from this dangerous misinformation after Election Day.
- There was “unscrupulous behavior” in the 2020 election: Trump still has not let go of his 2020 election loss and has promised retribution to those who “cheated.”
- JD Vance: Trump did not lose in 2020: After avoiding the question for months, VP pick JD Vance said he did not believe Trump lost in 2020, blaming “tech companies.” Dozens of court cases proved that the 2020 election was free and fair and that Trump’s lies were baseless.
- Voting machines are unreliable and states should move to paper ballots: Trump made this baseless claim on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and Rogan seemed to agree with Trump. Federal election guidelines recommend that jurisdictions use paper ballots, and 90% of jurisdictions already do.
- Trump is going to win despite Democrats cheating: Fox pundits and Trump himself are predicting a margin of victory so large that Democrats won’t be able to “cheat.” Polls show the race is neck and neck.
- Touch screen voting machines in Kentucky are flipping votes: Republicans claimed that voting machines are switching votes from Trump to Harris. Local election officials in Kentucky have refuted the claims.
- Republicans should destroy voting machines “like the Boston tea party:” For Trump official Mike Flynn called on Trump supporters to destroy Dominion voting machines in order to “stop the steal.” Dominion voting machines were shown to be secure in their lawsuit against Fox News.
John, this is just the tip of the iceberg. While these claims are easily dismissed as ridiculous, we’ve seen firsthand how destructive these lies can be to our democracy.
It was this kind of misinformation that fueled the violence on January 6th, 2021.
This is why COURIER exists. Election lies and conspiracies thrived on social media and in email inboxes in 2020. COURIER will work in those spaces after Election Day to correct the record and provide fact-based local news that keeps people informed.
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Thank you,
COURIER