DONALD TRUMP, alluding that the 2020 vote was stolen: 鈥淲hether you vote early, absentee, by mail or in person, we are going to protect the vote. That鈥檚 the most important thing we have to do is protect the vote. Keep your eyes open because these people want to cheat and they do cheat. And frankly, it鈥檚 the only thing they do well.鈥�
THE FACTS: In a prerecorded video at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump referenced baseless claims he made repeatedly after he lost the 2020 presidential race 鈥� that the election was 鈥渞igged鈥� and that Democrats cheated to put President Joe Biden in the White House.
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Biden earned 306 electoral votes to Trump鈥檚 232, the same margin that Trump had when he beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, which he repeatedly described as a 鈥渓andslide.鈥� (Trump ended up with 304 electoral votes because two electors defected.) Biden achieved victory by prevailing in key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia.
Trump鈥檚 allegations of massive voting fraud have been refuted by a variety of judges, state election officials and an arm of his own administration鈥檚 Homeland Security Department.
In 2020, then-Attorney General William Barr told the AP that no proof of widespread voter fraud had been uncovered. 鈥淭o date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,鈥� he said at the time.
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Melissa Goldin, The Associated Press
