Since the 2020 election was called for President-elect Joe Biden after winning the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania this Saturday, President Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge the results and concede to the President-elect.
His campaign has since filed numerous lawsuits in multiple states alleging voting irregularities and improprieties in a Hail Mary shot to secure a second term for Trump.
Trump's historic refusal to concede has only been exacerbated by his days-long Twitter tirade, peppering his timeline with lies about widespread voter fraud, undermining faith in American democracy among his supporters.
In one of his most bizarre claims yet, Trump fired off an all-caps tweet claiming that millions of his votes were "deleted" by an electronic voting software program called Dominion.
“REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE. DATA ANALYSIS FINDS 221,000 PENNSYLVANIA VOTES SWITCHED FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP TO BIDEN. 941,000 TRUMP VOTES DELETED. STATES USING DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS SWITCHED 435,000 VOTES FROM TRUMP TO BIDEN." @ChanelRion @OANN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
Trump's bogus claim that millions of Trump votes were deleted nationwide is a lie.
As the New York Times reported:
"The Dominion software was used in only two of the five counties that had problems in Michigan and Georgia, and in every instance there was a detailed explanation for what had happened. In all of the cases, software did not affect the vote counts."
In the erratic tweet, Trump tagged the White House correspondent for far right media outlet One America News Network (OANN), Chanel Rion.
Rion is known for lobbing softball questions at Trump during White House press briefings and using these questions as an opportunity to amplify far-right propaganda.
In the past, Rion has asked Trump:
"Mr. President, do you consider the term 'Chinese food' to be racist because it is food that originated from China?"
And:
"Is it alarming that major media players are consistently siding with foreign state propaganda, Islamic radicals, and Latin gangs and cartels?"
Rion also falsely claimed that the virus that's killed nearly 250 thousand Americans was secretly developed in a lab in North Carolina.
For reasons like this, people largely disregard anything Rion "reports."
Fresh off the premiere of the sequel to his film Borat, comedian and prankster Sacha Baron Cohen trolled Trump for using Rion as the source for his baseless claim.
Nice try, Don—your source is an OAN “journalist" who got duped into bringing Borat's daughter to the White House. Sad.https://t.co/BYfHTojF0v
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) November 12, 2020
Cohen reminded Trump that he and actress Maria Bakalova, who plays his daughter in the film, tricked Rion into giving them a tour of the White House press room.
The moment is featured in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
Trump very careful who he let into his events and house. No Covid test necessary - High 5! pic.twitter.com/Kf5gGk3n2M
— Borat (@BoratSagdiyev) October 23, 2020
People laughed with Cohen for pointing out the absurdity of considering Rion a reputable journalist.
Ali G with a right proper burn. https://t.co/2EI7sPNs0s pic.twitter.com/HBIL9qK9iu
— Haley Carter (@H_C_Carter) November 12, 2020
Always the best people https://t.co/EWBgWyShWO
— Aimes (@Aimeslora) November 12, 2020
Legend https://t.co/o7msXEqGwj
— Triple B Records (@TripleBRecords) November 12, 2020
Cohen wasn't the only one to skewer Trump's latest lie.
This tweet is Pants on Fire false. There is no evidence that 2.7 million votes for Trump have been deleted. https://t.co/fAdE8Fu5vP https://t.co/44XcDR9QCi
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) November 12, 2020
A very good signifier that a claim is complete nonsense is when it is sourced to Chanel Rion.
— Philip Bump (@pbump) November 12, 2020
What's the harm in letting this go on a few more weeks?
President gets some golf in. Convinces tens of millions that their votes were deleted. Autocrats the world over use it for propaganda. Spare his feelings a bit while he watches tv. https://t.co/5oFXQg215g
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) November 12, 2020
A monkey sitting at a keyboard could write more truth than the garbage @OANN calls news https://t.co/ZMLGg0Qbiw
— Christine Childs (@WriterXtine) November 12, 2020
But due to a near-religious reverence for Trump, some of the President's supporters are buying into the disinformation, capturing the larger effect of his lies: the erosion of faith in the very democracy that defines America.
The Democrat party is DEAD. It's obvious that they need to cheat to win. No one wants your Socialism crap here. https://t.co/IgNxpmBmwN
— Greg B (@Jeebaleebs) November 12, 2020
For the love of this country, Democrat machine MUST be DESTROYED. It is not enough to exposed GUILTY and prosecuted, leading to Slap on the wrist to those who are culpable and in power. #PrisonForBidenKamalaPelociObamaClintonAllDemocratsOfficialsWhoareResponsible. https://t.co/VuWPFxzVV4
— RyanJayson (@RyanJayson9) November 12, 2020
Think about it. The President tweets and is criticized and ridiculed and eventually the tweets are proven correct. This has happened again and again and, as a matter of fact, ....has he EVER been wrong? I don't think so. 🤔🤔🤔🤫🤫🤫#TWGRP https://t.co/AEaDXu7K6a
— Mother of Bluejays (@lennibird) November 12, 2020
Regardless of what Trump says, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are set to take the Oath of Office on January 20th.
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@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social