As scandals mount and his poll numbers prove to be unstable, it seems increasingly clear that President Trump will stop at very little to undermine confidence in the upcoming election.
Today saw the President making a new baseless claim to that end: six ballots cast for him were found in an office trash can.
Trump's comments came during an appearance today on Fox Radio with host Brian Kilmeade.
The appearance seemed to be an attempt to mitigate the blowback from Trump's recent refusal to commit to acceptance of the upcoming election results and a peaceful transfer of power should he lose.
Kilmeade attempted to clarify Trump's previous comments:
"You said, 'Well, we're going have to see what happens, you know, I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, the ballots are disaster.' Many think you are saying if you do lose, you'll never, ever leave. That's not what you're saying."
Trump agreed he was now in alignment with Senator Lindsay Graham's comments earlier today that he would accept a Trump loss if the Supreme Court ruled Joe Biden the winner of the election. (NB: It is Congress's job to certify election results, not the Court's.)
But he doubled down on his disgruntlement with the balloting systems.
"They found six ballots in an office yesterday in a garbage can, they were Trump ballots — eight ballots — in an office yesterday in a certain state... They had Trump written on it and they were thrown in a garbage can. This is what's going to happen, this is what's going to happen, and we're investigating that."
The President continued speaking at length about the ballots, changing the number from six to eight.
"It's a terrible thing that's going on with these ballots... When we find eight ballots, that's emblematic of thousands of locations, perhaps."
When Kilmeade then attempted to divert the President back to the topic of accepting the election results, Trump began talking about an interview Hillary Clinton did in August.
Trump later in the day claimed ballots cast for him were also found in an unnamed river.
TRUMP: The ballots -- that's a whole big scam. They found 8 ballots in a waste basket, others in a river. They thro… https://t.co/Q51HIvKigo— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar)1600976014.0
On Twitter, virtually no one was buying the President's stories
Trump claims ballots were found in the trash (LIES) — BUT WON’T SAY WHERE "They found six ballots in an office yes… https://t.co/KgMvjuumIi— Michael O'Grady (@Michael O'Grady)1600962828.0
@TeamTrump @realDonaldTrump Show proof! https://t.co/daCl2YiECV— DawnBonita (@DawnBonita)1600982584.0
@mog7546 Trumplicans in power have had 4 years to call in UN Observers. They don't want to be called on his deliberate sabotage.— Ching (@Ching)1600969148.0
#VoteHimOut #VoteHimOut2020 His lies are so pathetic its an embarrassment. https://t.co/EtteADqRL0— #Notonmywatch (@#Notonmywatch)1600966324.0
@mog7546 maybe the next time he goes rooting in a garbage can he will fall in and get thrown out with the rest of the garbage— Bill PRingle (@Bill PRingle)1600963602.0
If somebody had only remembered their phone has a camera on it. https://t.co/4JIoMY2BIB— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain)1600958244.0
@FinalFenwayFict @TeaPainUSA I wish he had an "off" button.— D. D. Syrdal (@D. D. Syrdal)1600958392.0
What is this crap that ballots were thrown in the trash can?? Trump lying again?? WTF is wrong with that moron??— ❤️ROZ (@❤️ROZ)1600975925.0
@atrupar I was sleeping in my casket. Something moved. I found 8 ballots. Had my name on it.— Exploding Tree Singh, MD 🌊 (@Exploding Tree Singh, MD 🌊)1600976717.0
Following the President's comments, the Department of Justice issued a press release claiming nine ballots were found in a trash can in Pennsylvania. That release was subsequently deleted and reposted with different information.