File picture: Former President Donald Trump made a collection of inflammatory social media posts on Sunday through which, amongst different issues, he lied that Senate Democrats rigged the 2020 election and baselessly accused the corporate that owns NBC and MSNBC of treason.
By Daniel Dale | CNN
Former President Donald Trump made a collection of inflammatory social media posts on Sunday through which, amongst different issues, he lied that Senate Democrats rigged the 2020 election and baselessly accused the corporate that owns NBC and MSNBC of treason.
The 2020 election
Since November 2020, when Trump misplaced the presidential election to Joe Biden, he has lied dozens of instances that the free and truthful election was “rigged” and “stolen.” In a publish on Sunday, Trump added a further false declare on prime of the same old false declare – this time declaring that Senate Democrats perpetrated the (nonexistent) election theft.
Trump was addressing final week’s federal indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, on corruption fees Menendez denies. Trump requested why the FBI doesn’t raid the properties of “Senate Democrat’s” prefer it searched his Florida house final yr for labeled paperwork he had retained after his presidency – baselessly calling that court-approved search unlawful. Then he added that “Menendez is a ‘piker’ in comparison with a few of these Election Stealing THUGS.”
Later within the publish, after making baseless allegations about Biden, Trump returned to the subject of Senate Democrats: “I’m wondering how a lot they received paid for Rigging the Election? Menendez is one in every of many, a small timer at that. EVERY DEMOCRAT SHOULD RESIGN FROM THE SENATE!”
Information First: The 2020 election wasn’t rigged or stolen – and Senate Democrats couldn’t probably have rigged or stolen it. First, the Senate was managed by Republicans on the time of the election and the following counting of the electoral votes. Second, the Senate had a minimal position within the election.
Trump’s marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to a Monday request to elucidate what he was speaking about.
Trump has repeatedly complained about numerous voting insurance policies that states put in place for the pandemic-era election, corresponding to guidelines making it simpler to vote by mail, however these insurance policies had been set by the states themselves, not the Trump-era federal authorities – a lot much less by Senate Democrats specifically. And whereas Trump had urged members of Congress to reject Biden electoral votes through the rely in early 2021, there was no legitimate motive for the members to take action.
The Senate voted 93-6 to reject an objection to Arizona’s electoral votes and 92-7 to reject an objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. “In different phrases, beneath the Republican-controlled Senate, objections to the electoral votes within the 2020 election had been overwhelmingly rejected by Republicans and Democrats,” stated Michael Thorning, director of Structural Democracy on the Bipartisan Coverage Middle assume tank.
Apart from issues associated to the electoral rely, Thorning stated he might consider just one different position the Senate performed within the 2020 election. It permitted emergency funding to assist states securely maintain the election amid the pandemic – and Trump himself signed that funding into legislation in 2020 as half of a bigger pandemic aid invoice.
A baseless declare about Comcast
In one other Sunday social media publish, Trump known as for an investigation into Comcast, the corporate that owns NBC and MSNBC – writing that “Comcast, with its one-side and cruel protection by NBC NEWS, and specifically MSNBC, typically and appropriately known as MSDNC (Democrat Nationwide Committee!), ought to be investigated for its ‘Nation Threatening Treason.’” He vowed that, if he wins the presidency once more, “they and others of the LameStream Media shall be completely scrutinized” over their protection.
Information First: There may be merely no foundation for the declare that information protection Trump doesn’t like is “treason.”
It’s maybe value noting that the week previous to this publish, Trump took half in an prolonged sit-down interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” – and promoted that interview to his supporters.
Comcast didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Monday.
A false declare about The Washington Put up
In a 3rd Sunday publish, Trump claimed that The Washington Put up had admitted an error in its reporting of a Washington Put up/ABC Information ballot that confirmed him with a 10-percentage-point lead over Biden amongst registered voters. (The Put up’s article on the ballot stated that the outcome was “most likely an outlier” given how a lot it differs from different public polling.)
Trump wrote, “The WAPO has simply elevated my polling lead over Crooked Joe Biden to 10 Factors, from 9. Properly, at the least they admitted their mistake! This might be the start of an enormous comeback for what has develop into referred to as the LameStream Media. Would even be a Large Day In America!”
Information First: Trump’s declare that the Put up acknowledged a mistake in its reporting of the ballot is fake. The Put up’s article all the time appropriately stated the ballot confirmed Trump with a 10-point lead over Biden amongst registered voters, 52% to 42%. ABC Information, conversely, has reported that the ballot confirmed Trump with a 9-percentage-point lead, as a result of ABC was citing the ballot’s outcomes amongst all grownup respondents moderately than solely the registered voters.
It’s doable that Trump was genuinely confused by the 2 shops having used barely completely different numbers, however his declare that the Put up made a change to its reporting of the numbers is mistaken regardless.
Trump additionally addressed the ballot in one other Sunday publish, blasting ABC for supposedly refusing to report on his huge lead over Biden. He wrote: “To indicate everybody how FAKE the Information Media is, ABC WORLD NEWS on Sunday Morning, their huge Information Present, lined each facet of a Ballot on Crooked Joe Biden, apart from the most important and most necessary FACT, that he was shedding to an individual referred to as DONALD J. TRUMP by a staggering 10 Factors.”
Actually, ABC’s Sunday morning political present, “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” did talk about how the ballot confirmed Trump with a giant lead over Biden (once more utilizing the 9-point determine for all adults). Its nightly information present, “World Information Tonight,” didn’t point out that knowledge level, however Trump was exaggerating when he stated that present “lined each facet” of the ballot; the present talked about three different outcomes from the ballot, all of them poor for Biden.