After getting through all the feelings — Hallelujah, thank God — that came up once former Vice President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, there was another burning question to answer: What would the current president, who famously hates losers and now was one, tweet?
[referenced id=”1527329″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/11/no-theres-isnt-a-glitch-in-michigan-election-software-that-flipped-thousands-of-trump-votes/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/08/s83q1m59suwoiki8ysrz-300×168.jpg” title=”No, There’s Isn’t a ‘Glitch’ in Michigan Election Software That Flipped Thousands of Trump Votes” excerpt=”Dispelling every bullshit election conspiracy that’s inundated the internet this week would be a full-time job in and of itself, but one particularly insidious theory has blown up to such a ridiculous degree that it deserves to be set straight.”]
For a few hours, President Donald Trump was silent, which is very uncharacteristic of him on Twitter, his favourite toy. He had found out that Biden had won the race while he was golfing, and was probably in a horrible mood. There was no doubt he would tweet something, and he did. At the time of publication of this blog, Trump had sent out two tweets since networks called the race for Biden. They were in ALL CAPS and full of lies and self-praise. In other words, normal Trump.
THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
71,000,000 Legal Votes. The most EVER for a sitting President!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2020
Let’s talk about the lies first. Trump claims that his campaign observers were not allowed into the ballot-counting rooms, thereby preventing them from witnessing and reporting voter fraud and allowing “bad things” to happen. This is false. Trump has provided no evidence of this and was actually debunked by his own campaign.
According to the New York Times, in lawsuits filed in Nevada and Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign said that its observers were present in the ballot-counting rooms. It was complaining because it wanted observers to be able to get even closer, and succeeded in convincing a judge in Pennsylvania to let observers stand six feet away from the counting tables instead of 6.10 m. A judge in Nevada dismissed the case.
Of course, Trump’s lies did not stop there. He also falsely stated — despite the fact that even his beloved Fox called the election for Biden — that he had won the election because he got 71 million so-called “legal votes.” However, there is currently no evidence that any significant number of “illegal” votes — or multiple votes cast by the same person or a vote cast by someone who is not eligible to vote — have been cast, Politifact reported.
Back to the liar, liar, pants on the fire. Finally, Trump ranted about how millions of mail-in ballots were sent to people who hadn’t asked for them. The president has maintained that mail-in ballots are subject to fraud (there have only been a handful of voter fraud cases over the years) and has falsely stated that states do not take verification measures, such as validating signatures.
Per Politifact, while it is true that some states mailed ballots to all registered voters due to the pandemic, states did carry out verification measures. In Nevada, for instance, officials explicitly stated that they verify signatures on all ballots. If the signature is missing or the signature on the ballot doesn’t match the one on file, officials do not count the ballot until the voter verifies their signature. New Jersey has a 24-page guide dedicated to signature verification.
[referenced id=”1527332″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/11/in-wake-of-election-facebook-will-put-groups-that-violate-its-community-standards-on-probation/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/08/hr739an9sa7avqrarwan-300×169.jpg” title=”In Wake of Election, Facebook Will Put Groups That Violate Its Community Standards on ‘Probation’” excerpt=”Although millions of Americans — and really, the world — breathed a sigh of relief today when it was announced that former Vice President Joe Biden had given current President Donald Trump the worst news of his life (also known as, you’re fired), election season isn’t over yet. This means…”]
And it wouldn’t be a Trump tweet fest without a bit of self-praise. To finish off his short Twitter update, Trump bragged about how he had gotten 71 million legal votes, the most ever for a sitting president. We already know that the legal votes claim is a bunch of malarkey, but Trump is right about one thing: He has gotten more votes than any sitting president in history. Too bad Biden got more as a candidate.
Trump has refused to accept that he has lost and has not conceded the race to Biden. In fact, earlier on Saturday, the president tweeted in all caps that he had won the election “BY A LOT!” That of course was not true. Reports claim that Trump still believes that Democrats stole the election, and plans to launch legal challenges next week.
Let’s hope he gets over it and accepts the outcome soon, for all of our sakes. And while Trump can’t stand losers, nobody likes a sore loser.