Trump’s 46-Minute Diatribe On Election Fraud Quickly Disputed

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump released a blistering, 46-minute videotaped speech Wednesday from the White House denouncing a “rigged” election — a claim that has been rejected by election officials, courts and even his own attorney general — in what he said “may be the most important speech I’ve ever made.”

Trump, speaking from a lectern with the presidential seal in the White House Diplomatic Room, recycled a long list of falsehoods about voter fraud and accused Democrats of a conspiracy to steal the presidency from him. His false assertions come despite the fact that many Republicans were elected on the same ballot in the Nov. 3 general election.

Twitter labeled Trump’s post “disputed”; and Facebook, where the full video is posted, said both in-person and voting by mail have a “long history of trustworthiness” and that “U.S. voter fraud is extremely rare across voting methods.”

Attorney General William P. Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday the Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election.

A month after the general election, Trump has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, who received nearly 81 million votes and 306 electoral votes. The Electoral College votes will be cast and counted Dec. 14 and then delivered to Vice President Mike Pence by Dec. 23. The new Congress sworn in on Jan. 6 will officially count the vote, and Pence will deliver the winner. Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president on Jan. 20.

Trump said in the video that his efforts are “not just about honoring the votes of 74 million Americans who voted for me,” but “about ensuring that Americans can have faith in this election. And in all future elections.”

Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University, told The Associated Press the nation has seen close elections before — 1800, 1876 and, most recently, 2000. But this year's election does not fit in that category.

“This is just a random, baseless attack on the entire election,” Zelizer said. “Trump has no turning point. I often say there are parallels or precedents, but there aren't in this case. He keeps bending norms."

Trump said the election results should be “overturned immediately” in several battleground states and suggested the Supreme Court should intervene in his favor, saying, “Hopefully, they will do what’s right for our country because our country can’t live with this kind of an election.”

But chances are remote that the Supreme Court would get involved. No appeals claiming fraud have been filed at the high court. Pennsylvania Republicans want the justices to prevent certification of Biden’s win in the state, but their appeal alleges Pennsylvania’s vote-by-mail law is unconstitutional, not fraud. The state Supreme Court already has dismissed the lawsuit.

A day before the video was released, a top election official in Georgia said the rhetoric of Trump and his supporters has threatened the security of an election in January, where two Senate runoff races could tip the balance of power in that chamber back to Democrats.

Gabriel Sterling, a Republican and the implementation manager of Georgia’s voting system, rebuked the president for his failure to condemn threats that Sterling said could result in election officials being “shot” or “killed.”

“This has to stop,” Sterling said. “Mr. President, you have not condemned these actions or this language.”

Trump plans to visit Georgia this weekend in support of the two Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are defending their seats in the Jan. 5 runoff election. The Republican National Committee is hosting the visit at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Valdosta Regional Airport in southern Georgia.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.