Tonight Donald Trump delivered a long and confusing speech from the White House that CNN called “the most dishonest of his presidency.” Trump declared victory several times in the presidential elections, said he had also won in states where the vote count is now closed in favor of Joe Biden, and cited episodes of non-existent or blatantly false electoral misconduct. The speech was so full of falsehoods that the three big American TV channels, ABC, CBS and NBC, they interrupted the live broadcast. The two cable channels, CNN and Fox News, aired the entire speech, but CNN did so by superimposing the words: “WITHOUT EVIDENCE, TRUMP CLAIMS THAT YOU ARE A VICTIM OF FRAUD.”
The speech was an attempt to raise doubts about the electoral process, but so far, with Biden very close to victory, this attempt appears to have failed. Even after the speech, it was not possible to understand what Trump’s election campaign strategy is, apart from allegations of fraud that do not appear solid at all. Trump has repeatedly said that he will ask for recount in many states and his party will try to contest the vote in the courts, but even this seems an ineffective strategy: recounting the votes in the states usually does not cause major changes, unless the margin detachment is not really very close (in many states in the balance it should not be).
Several media after the speech they tried to fact check what Trump said, here are some of the most remarkable things.
The victories
Trump said several times during his speech that he had won the election.
False. The winner of the US elections is still unknown, and the numbers suggest that it will be Joe Biden.
He also claimed to have won in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
False. In the first two states the counts are now over, and Joe Biden’s detachment is such that the Democratic candidate’s victory is certain. In Pennsylvania and Georgia, the count is still ongoing.
– Read also: The live broadcast of the American elections
The “legal votes”
Trump began his speech by saying, “If you count the legal votes, I win easily. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal our election. “
Trump has never specified what he means by “legal votes”, and there is no evidence of any kind that “illegal votes” were counted in the count, indeed: many state administrations, including Republicans, have said that the vote was carried out in full legality.
Trump also said “no illegal votes” should be cast after election day.
No votes were cast after election day. In many states it continues to count because votes were accepted that arrived after election day, but sent by that date, and therefore considered valid under the law.
The legitimacy of the count
Trump continued several times throughout his speech to try to undermine confidence in the electoral process and report fraud, focusing on the fact that in many states he initially seemed to have the upper hand and then Biden recovered. “We were winning in all key places by a lot, and our numbers miraculously began to shrink,” he said.
This statement would suggest illegal maneuvers with which the Democrats would have tried to inflate their vote. In reality there is nothing strange and it had already been widely foreseen and described for months: this year, due to the pandemic, Americans have used mass voting by post or early voting, and it has been above all the Democratic voters to do so since Trump has insisted for months on describing voting in the mail as unsafe. But since in so many states the votes cast on election day are counted first, this gave the initial impression that the Republicans were ahead. When the votes by post began to be counted, the situation was rebalanced.
“It’s crazy how all these postal votes are so partial” [in favore di Biden].
Here, too, the explanation is simple: Trump and his people have spent the past few months demonizing the postal vote, saying it would be subject to fraud and discouraging Republican voters from using it. On the contrary, Biden and the Democrats encouraged their constituents to use it, and this meant that postal and early voting was predominantly Democratic (obviously not quite, as Trump implied).
At one point, Trump even defined postal voting as “a corrupt system”.
False. In the United States, postal voting has been around for decades and there have never been any cases of electoral fraud, including this year. In the 2016 election, won by Trump, a quarter of the votes were cast by mail.
– Read also: Fake news about US election fraud
Pennsylvania
“In Pennsylvania the Democrats have allowed the votes in the state to be received three days after the election and we also think much further and that those without any stamps or identification are counting”
It wasn’t the Democrats who allowed ballots that arrived within three days of the vote (but sent by election day) to be counted in Pennsylvania, but the state Supreme Court. The national Supreme Court ruled the case and did not change the decision.
Detroit
“Our observers were not allowed to participate in any counting in Detroit.”
False. There have been tense moments at the TFT Center, the Detroit building where the votes arrived by mail are being counted, but mostly due to disturbances caused by the Republicans. Inside the building there were Republican observers and many journalists, as shown by photos and videos a bit everywhere.
One claim Trump’s team is making in the MI case is that poll challengers weren’t given access to observe/challenge the process. This is a photo I took on 11/2 at the Detroit absentee counting board of poll challengers entering the facility. Many were wearing MI GOP identification pic.twitter.com/iLS4Tdc6EV
— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) November 5, 2020
“A large vote-counting center in Detroit had its windows covered with large pieces of cardboard … They didn’t want anyone to see the count, even though the observers should have been there.”
This is misleading: Trump is again referring to the TFT Center, where the windows were actually covered, but the building was filled with both Republican and Democrat reporters and observers. The justification given for the window cover is that from the outside many Republican activists were banging on the glass and trying to illegally film the people inside (only authorized crews can do this).
Detroit and Philadelphia
“Detroit and Philadelphia, which are considered to be among the most corrupt places in the country, clearly cannot be responsible for the manipulation of the outcome of a presidential election.”
There is no particular data on corruption in Detroit and Philadelphia, and certainly there is no evidence of voting manipulation.
– Read also: What will the next American Congress look like
Georgia
“In Georgia, a pipe exploded in a distant location completely disconnected from where it was [il conteggio] it was happening, and they blocked the count for hours ».
Trump is referring to the fact that, during election night, counting was interrupted for hours in Fulton County, but the news of the exploding water pipe is true. local officials, and it happened in a building where the urns were kept. No ballot papers appear to have been damaged.
“The electoral apparatus in Georgia is run by the Democrats.”
False. The government in Georgia is Republican, and Trump in 2018 made an explicit endorsement to local Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the person who is now overseeing the election process.
Brad Raffensperger will be a fantastic Secretary of State for Georgia – will work closely with @BrianKempGA. It is really important that you get out and vote for Brad – early voting….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
Trump has also said true things, or almost true
He bragged about his good performance in Florida and his achievements with the Latin electorate. He cited the good results of Republicans in the House and Senate – which among other things helps to contradict the fraud thesis – and said the polls made mistakes.
Here too, however, Trump has said some false things. He said Republicans have a majority in the Senate, although in reality there will be two ballots in January that could bring the Senate to parity. Regarding the polls, he is correct in saying they were inaccurate, but Trump tried to pass the idea that they were on purpose, to discourage the Republican vote. This is not true.
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