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The Gateway Pundit
stated on July 22, 2022 in a headline:
In 2020, “250,000 ballots were manufactured” in Georgia and “Biden was given win” by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
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- Georgia
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- Facebook Fact-checks
- The Gateway Pundit
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An election worker looks at a ballot during a Cobb County hand recount of presidential votes at the Miller Park Event Center in Marietta, Ga. (John Amis for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via AP)
By Amy ShermanJuly 29, 2022
If Your Time is short
Results the morning after Election Day in Georgia showed that Donald Trump was ahead of Joe Biden. But the state’s election results website had a disclaimer that the results were unofficial and may not include all absentee and provisional ballots.
Election experts say that particularly in states where the results are close, the initial winner may not be the final winner and unofficial results are not the final results.
Days after Election Day, as more ballots were counted in Georgia, the results flipped to Biden. This was not a sign of fraud.
See the sources for this fact-check
The midterms are about 100 days away, but allies of former President Donald Trump continue to promote false theories that election workers in key states shuffled Trump’s votes to President Joe Biden in 2020. That did not happen.
Many of the falsehoods zero in on Georgia, where Biden won by about 12,000 votes. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has defended the security of the election.
A July 22 headline on the website Gateway Pundit, which has promoted election misinformation, said: "SHOCKING: On November 4th, 2020, Georgia showed 100% reporting and TRUMP WON – then 250,000 ballots were manufactured and Biden was given win by Raffensperger days later."
The article was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The Gateway Pundit’s headline attributed the information to Voter GA, a group led by Garland Favorito, who filed a lawsuit alleging counterfeit ballots were used in Fulton County in 2020. State investigators were unable to substantiate the allegations, and a judge dismissed the lawsuit.
Trump and his allies have attacked Raffensperger because he refused to go along with Trump’s pleas to "find" him more votes. Raffensperger defeated a Trump-backed candidate in the state’s May primary and will face Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen in November.
Results the morning after election are unofficial, don’t include all ballots
The gist of these claims stems from a brief interview Raffensperger gave to "Today" on Nov. 4, 2020, the morning after the election. Raffensperger told the show that his state still had "about two percent" left to count out of 4.7 million votes. "I don't think it will change any of the outcomes," he said, adding that he would leave speculation to people who predict elections.
As "Today" displayed a graphic showing Trump was ahead in Georgia by about 100,000 votes, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd noted that they still had to count some ballots in areas favorable to Democrats.
Later that morning, Raffensperger told reporters that there were 200,000 ballots left to count, including absentee and early votes.
On the morning of Nov. 4, the state’s website for election results showed Trump was ahead. But there results from 13 precincts were still uncounted. A disclaimer at the top of the page stated: "Unofficial results — totals may not include all absentees or provisional ballots."
That disclaimer is key, particularly in 2020, when voting by mail proved popular because ofCOVID-19.
Later in the week, the state website showed all precincts had been counted. Even then, the website still had the disclaimer about absentee and provisional ballots.
Trump’s lead shrank as more ballots were counted. By Nov. 6, 2020, the unofficial showed Biden had narrowly pulled ahead.
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Instagram posts
stated on June 20, 2024 in an Instagram post
“Congresswoman (Anna Paulina) Luna confirms that Biden will be replaced on 2024 ballot.”
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The Associated Press didn’t call Georgia for Biden until about two weeks after Election Day as it waited for the results of another count.
When the final results were certified on Nov. 20, Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes.
The Gateway Pundit article repeatedly and wrongly refers to Raffensperger as "corrupt." If a state election official "manufactured" ballots, that would be a crime. More than 20 months after Election Day, no court, law enforcement agency or election office has found such evidence. It also defies logic that Raffensperger, a Republican, would participate in a felonious scheme to help a Democrat win the presidency.
In leaked audio released by Mother Jones earlier this month, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is heard telling associates in October 2020 that Trump was aware that the slow counting of mail-in ballots would mean the returns would likely show early Trump leads in key states.
"What Trump’s gonna do is just declare victory. Right? He’s gonna declare victory. But that doesn’t mean he’s a winner," Bannon is heard saying.
Georgia’s results were affirmed by three separate counts.
PolitiFact was one of many news outlets before the 2020 election that told voters to be patient while awaiting results and that early winners may not be the final winners. State laws include timelines for officials to count ballots, including by mail, provisionals and overseas ballots. Those same lessons about not leaping to conclusions about partial or unofficial results apply to the midterms.
Our ruling
The Gateway Pundit wrote that in 2020, "250,000 ballots were manufactured" and the Georgia secretary of state, Raffensperger, improperly awarded the state to Joe Biden.
The article relies on unofficial results released the morning after Election Day to suggest a criminal intervention on Biden’s behalf. What really happened was that the total number of ballots for Biden grew as they were counted, flipping the state’s electoral votes from Trump to Biden. This is not a sign of "manufactured" ballots; it is a sign that it takes time for election officials to lawfully count all ballots. Raffensperger followed the law in certifying those final results.
We rate this statement Pants on Fire!
RELATED: Trump’s Pants on Fire distortion about Georgia’s voter rolls
RELATED: All of our fact-checks about Georgia
RELATED: All of our fact-checks about elections
RELATED: Georgia’s David Perdue said elections were stolen from him and Trump. Pants on Fire!
Read About Our Process
The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter
Our Sources
Today Show, Interview with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Nov. 4, 2020
Gateway Pundit, SHOCKING: On November 4th, 2020, Georgia Showed 100% Reporting and TRUMP WON – Then 250,000 Ballots Were Manufactured and Biden Was Given Win by Raffensperger Days Later – Per VoterGA, July 22, 2022
David Cross, Georgia Election Fraud Report 2020, July 16, 2022
Emerald Robinson, VoterGA uncovers massive election fraud in Georgia, July 20, 2022
Atlanta Journal Constitution, AJC poll: Raffensperger leads Ga. elections race after resisting Trump, July 28, 2022
Mother Jones, Leaked audio: Before Election Day, Bannon said Trump planned to falsely claim victory, July 12, 2022
Georgia Public Radio, Secretary of State Addresses Georgia’s Election Results, Nov. 4, 2020
Georgia Secretary of State, Results, Last updated Nov. 20, 2020
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
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Tom Cotton
stated on June 16, 2024 in an interview on CNN's State of the Union:
“The weapons that Ukraine used in the early days of this war to fend off the Russian invasion are the weapons that Donald Trump sent, that Barack Obama and Joe Biden had refused to send.”
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Pennsylvania Values PAC
stated on June 21, 2024 in an ad:
Former President Donald Trump is “against mail in voting.”
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Threads posts
stated on June 8, 2024 in a Threads post:
“Trump can’t be on the Texas ballot because of our state constitution.”
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Donald Trump
stated on May 31, 2024 in remarks to reporters:
“Congo, Africa, just released a lot of people, a lot of people from their prisons and jails and brought them into the United States of America.”
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Donald Trump
stated on May 29, 2024 in comments to reporters:
Joe Biden “is letting millions of people from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers pour in.”
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Joe Biden
stated on June 4, 2024 in a speech:
“Due to the arrangements that I've reached with (Mexico) President Obrador, the number of migrants coming … to our shared border unlawfully in recent months has dropped dramatically.”
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Donald Trump
stated on June 2, 2024 in an interview with Fox:
Speaking about Hillary Clinton: “I didn’t say, ‘Lock her up.’ ”
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Jason Pizzo
stated on May 30, 2024 in a post on X:
“Trump can’t vote for himself in the November election.”
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Social Media
stated on May 29, 2024 in social media posts:
Judge Juan Merchan told New York jurors the verdict in Donald Trump’s trial does not need to be unanimous.
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X posts
stated on May 6, 2024 in an X post:
Fired Milwaukee election leader “printed 64,000 ballots in a back room at City Hall in Milwaukee and had random employees fill them out,” giving Joe Biden the lead.
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Mike Johnson
stated on May 8, 2024 in a press conference:
“The millions (of immigrants) that have been paroled can simply go to their local welfare office or the DMV and register to vote.”
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Donald Trump
stated on May 10, 2024 in a Truth Social post:
“Biden wants to immediately stop all aid to Israel.”
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Donald Trump
stated on May 2, 2024 in an X post:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called voter ID “racist,” calls NRA a “terrorist organization” and supports affirmative action.
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Donald Trump
stated on May 2, 2024 in remarks to reporters:
“I’m not allowed to testify” because of a gag order.
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Joe Biden
stated on April 26, 2024 in an interview with Howard Stern:
Says he “got arrested” while protesting in favor of desegregation.
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Gateway Pundit distorts unofficial Georgia 2020 results
Social Media
stated on July 14, 2024 in a July 14, 2024, post:
A photo from viral social media posts shows Trump rally shooting suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Social Media
stated on July 13, 2024 in social media posts:
Donald Trump staged the shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Instagram posts
stated on July 13, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram:
“El que disparo Donald Trump, Mark Violets ha sido asesinado.”
Facebook posts
stated on July 13, 2024 in a Facebook post:
“Butler Police confirm the shooter’s name is Mark Violets. He is a known Antifa extremist.”
Threads posts
stated on July 13, 2024 in a Threads post:
“Trump rally shooter has been identified as 32-year-old California resident, Hank Pecker.”
Joe Biden
stated on May 16, 2024 in News release:
"The Trump administration handed out taxpayer dollars to a foreign company. Hundreds of homes and farms were bulldozed, and over $500 million in taxpayer dollars were wasted preparing for Foxconn."
Threads posts
stated on July 7, 2024 in a Threads post:
"Project 2025 eliminates OSHA and overtime wages.”
Social Media
stated on July 11, 2024 in social media posts:
BBC News published a graphic quoting President Joe Biden saying, “Let me say this as clearly and simply as I can: [inaudible].”
D.L. Hughley
stated on July 7, 2024 in a post:
“Anyone on Social Security or Disability should know, Project 2025 totally eliminatesall benefits.”
Threads posts
stated on July 8, 2024 in a Threads post:
List shows settlements Donald Trump made to 10- to 13-year-old victims of child sex crimes.
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