“If you count the legal votes, I win easily” is one of Donald Trump’s false statements that were censored by several American TV stations on Thursday night. We have looked at some of his claims and experts tell us how they are dangerous for democracy.
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1. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal this election”
There are no “illegal” votes.
The President is referring here to postal voting, which has been around for a very long time in the United States, but which he calls a corrupt system. He also denounces “the partiality” of postal votes, which favor Joe Biden.
This is not a surprise, as the outgoing president has urged his constituents against voting by mail during his election campaign. “It is nonsense not to see this logic”, indicates the researcher at the Raoul-Dandurand Chair Valérie Beaudoin.
“Trump does not accept the results and had set the table for a challenge. If he lost, the only possible explanation for him was voter fraud. Did we think he would go that far? No, ”continues Ms. Beaudoin.
2. “They [démocrates] wanted to see how many votes were missing and they found them “
Donald Trump is implying that Democrats deliberately wanted to count mail-in votes after polling stations as a ploy to add missing votes as a last resort, which seems absurd to say the least.
“There is nothing to indicate that a bad element reduced his chances or that someone manipulated the vote count,” reporter Daniel Dale told CNN, one of the channels which broadcast the speech without censoring it. .
As predicted by many experts, Trump’s advance in some states was slowed after the mail-in votes were counted.
3. “Several states sent out millions of unsolicited ballots without any verification measures”
It is true that several states have sent a ballot paper to each voter of age to exercise his right to vote without requiring a specific request. However, this sentence would suggest that the vote would become chaotic and implies a loss of control.
“The nine states that sent out such ballots have implemented various ballot security measures, such as signature matching requirements, to ensure the right people vote,” says journalist Daniel Dale. This practice is fully consistent with US election laws.
4. “The pollsters were wrong and tried to eliminate my supporters”
Donald Trump also decried the production of false polls that predicted the indisputable victory of his Democratic opponent. This technique would have discouraged his voters from voting, he said.
Even if several polls were off the mark, there is no evidence that they were rigged.
“Where it bothers is that he claims it was a willful strategy to give bad polls. It’s ironic, because in 2016, the polls predicted Hillary Clinton’s victory, ”notes Valérie Beaudoin.
5. “No ‘illegal’ vote should be counted after polling day”
It has been 3 days now since the election results have been released. It can be frustrating, but it’s not abnormal.
As always, postal votes are counted after election day. Some states also accept ballots received after November 3, provided they are postmarked before the election date.
Democratically dangerous
This type of speech poses a threat to democracy in the United States, according to the experts we interviewed.
“[Son discours] is an attack on democracy and the integrity of the American elections. Long-term consequences can be significant […] and there is always this danger of uprising, ”says Raoul-Dandurand Chair researcher Valérie Beaudoin.
“These are anti-democratic remarks and that cannot be tolerated,” maintains for his part the researcher associated with the Raoul-Dandurand Chair Rafael Jacob. These are so despicable words that we cannot afford to give a platform to democratically dangerous comments. ”
A CNN journalist who carried out the fact-checking qualifies Donald Trump’s speech Thursday evening as the most “dishonest” since his election in 2016.
NBC News, NBC News and ABC News cut Trump’s speech short as FOX News and CNN broadcast the entire speech.
“FOX News broadcast the President’s entire speech and it shows the media are clearly in order. It’s a tribal dynamic. This censorship can also have the effect of bringing water to the mill for Trump supporters, ”adds the researcher.
“It took courage to [interrompre le discours]. I believe that there is an awareness of the media which have journalistic work to do, ”admits researcher Valérie Beaudoin.
