In the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, Republican state legislators prevented efforts to lift its policy that mail-in ballots not begin to be processed until Election Day.
The pandemic has predictably led to an unprecedented surge in mail-in votes in the state, the majority of which are expected to go for Democratic nominee Joe Biden, thanks in large part to the Republican effort to sow mistrust in the age old voting method.
Meanwhile, in-person votes—which are processed and counted more quickly—have given Trump a lead that's largely believed to be temporary, with millions more ballots expected to be processed.
Trump needs the state of Pennsylvania to win, and he's repeatedly shown that he's willing to perpetuate misinformation and lies to do so.
To that end, the President, his son Eric, and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany all began falsely tweeting that Trump had won Pennsylvania.
We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won't allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact,.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020
We have won Pennsylvania!
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 4, 2020
VICTORY for President @realDonaldTrump in PENNSYLVANIA ‼️
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) November 4, 2020
With around a million mail-in ballots and Trump leading by only 303 thousand votes, Pennsylvania is still anyone's game.
Twitter rightly flagged the claims as false, and famous CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale was quick to rain on the victory parade.
No. https://t.co/87vaz9gSHp
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 4, 2020
They have not won Pennsylvania. https://t.co/AL5XOq19jb
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 4, 2020
Almost everything the president is saying is wrong.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 4, 2020
People applauded Dale's no-nonsense reminder of the facts.
This is it, this is the end of the "narrator voice:" meme, this one can't be topped. https://t.co/aRLraaSMtV
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) November 4, 2020
These fact checks 🤣😅🙏🏻💙 https://t.co/R0SVatyfoW
— Beth Hoffberg (@bethhoffberg) November 4, 2020
Only took Daniel Dale 3 minutes to shut him down. #Election2020 #CountEveryVote https://t.co/rg8nk3kmBE pic.twitter.com/DL6tTOctmE
— elikwent (@elikwent) November 4, 2020
This man is a hero https://t.co/ivANugnB9L
— Erin (@Erin1237) November 4, 2020
Dale wasn't the only one to call out the blatant falsehoods.
Good point. The Constitution clearly says “A state's electors can be won if the president's second dumbest son calls dibs." https://t.co/xi2qrM2xsG
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 4, 2020
Hearing reports he's ahead in all five precincts in narnia as well https://t.co/MBFuZCtaXb
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) November 4, 2020
You haven't, sit down and let people do their jobs. https://t.co/6VDgpSDopg
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 4, 2020
This is a lie. They have not won Pennsylvania.
The liars are all lying right now because they are scared of what happens when all the votes get counted. https://t.co/4RAdFXCfn1
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) November 4, 2020
The race in Pennsylvania is not by any means over, and likely won't be known until Friday at the earliest.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter