“Then-President Donald Trump falsely claimed more than 100 times that Democrats had ‘rigged’ or ‘stolen’ the 2020 election ahead of January’s deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol, a HuffPost analysis found. In reviewing all of Trump’s tweets and speeches between Election Day on Nov. 3 and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, HuffPost mapped out the rhetoric his followers absorbed as their defiance against President Joe Biden’s win mounted” Huffington Post reports.
“Over the course of those two months, Trump – the most powerful politician in the country and, arguably, the entire world – lied that the election was rigged at least 68 times and that it was stolen or in the process of being stolen at least 35 times. He made claims of voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities more than 250 times, specifically making baseless claims that voting machines tossed or changed votes at least 45 times. The Justice Department and election officials nationwide rejected such claims, stating there was no evidence of fraud or irregularities that would have overturned the election results. Nonetheless, Trump falsely declared victory at least 40 times, often claiming he won in a ‘landslide.’ He peddled these nuggets of disinformation during press conferences and rallies watched by millions of people, or on Twitter to over 88 million followers. HuffPost’s review included Trump’s many retweets, which can often be interpreted as endorsements.”