SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Activists march through the city of Detroit on November 7, 2020 to denounce President Donald Trump's false claims of voter fraud. (Photo: Adam J. Dewey/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ignoring Warnings His Election Lies Could Get People Killed, Trump Posts 46-Minute Rant Full of 'Unhinged' Falsehoods
"Georgia elections director yesterday: Trump's rhetoric is going to get people killed. Trump today: here's 46 minutes of unhinged conspiracy theories."
Dec 02, 2020
Just days after a top Georgia official warned that President Donald Trump's lies about the November election results are putting lives at risk, the outgoing incumbent late Wednesday released a 46-minute speech jam-packed with blatant falsehoods and fabrications about mass voter fraud that even his handpicked attorney general has rejected.
Characterizing his remarks from the White House as perhaps "the most important speech I've ever made," the outgoing president posted the extended rant on Facebook amid news that the United States reported its worst 24-hour coronavirus death toll--at least 2,760 people--since the pandemic began. Covid-19 hospitalizations, according to the latest figures, are also reaching record highs in the U.S.
But Trump did not mention the catastrophic public health crisis during his speech, opting instead to ramble on about "shocking irregularities, abuses, and fraud" that he and his self-described "elite strike force" of attorneys have repeatedly failed to substantiate in court.
As his lawyers continue to rack up losses, Trump used his speech to openly plead with the Supreme Court--to which he has appointed three right-wing justices--to intervene on his behalf, an unlikely scenario given the often comical weakness of his legal team's performances in lower court fights.
"Maybe you'll have a re-vote, but I don't think that's appropriate. When those votes are corrupt, when they're irregular, when they get caught, they're terminated, and I very easily win," Trump said, falsely. "In all states, I very easily win, the swing states."
Reportedly filmed last week, Trump's remarks were posted online days after a pair of key battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified President-elect Joe Biden's victories, further solidifying his decisive win in the November contest. In a viral clip, Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is seen ignoring what appears to be a phone call from Trump as he certifies the state's results.
Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia voting systems manager and a Republican, said Tuesday that Trump's constant lies about the results are directly responsible for recent intimidation and death threats against election workers in the state, which has been certified for Biden.
"Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it's not right," said Sterling.
Refusing once again to concede defeat even with the transition to the Biden administration officially in motion, Trump evinced no concern that his remarks could lead to violence against election workers, who he baselessly accused of being complicit in a vast conspiracy to steal the election.
As Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones noted, "Because the speech was prerecorded and posted to Facebook, news networks didn't have an opportunity to cut him off once he began spewing falsehoods. From now on, social media may be this one-term president's only outlet."
Facebook and Twitter both appended misinformation warnings to the president's posts circulating the speech, which has been shared nearly 250,000 times on Facebook.
Watch the full speech:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Just days after a top Georgia official warned that President Donald Trump's lies about the November election results are putting lives at risk, the outgoing incumbent late Wednesday released a 46-minute speech jam-packed with blatant falsehoods and fabrications about mass voter fraud that even his handpicked attorney general has rejected.
Characterizing his remarks from the White House as perhaps "the most important speech I've ever made," the outgoing president posted the extended rant on Facebook amid news that the United States reported its worst 24-hour coronavirus death toll--at least 2,760 people--since the pandemic began. Covid-19 hospitalizations, according to the latest figures, are also reaching record highs in the U.S.
But Trump did not mention the catastrophic public health crisis during his speech, opting instead to ramble on about "shocking irregularities, abuses, and fraud" that he and his self-described "elite strike force" of attorneys have repeatedly failed to substantiate in court.
As his lawyers continue to rack up losses, Trump used his speech to openly plead with the Supreme Court--to which he has appointed three right-wing justices--to intervene on his behalf, an unlikely scenario given the often comical weakness of his legal team's performances in lower court fights.
"Maybe you'll have a re-vote, but I don't think that's appropriate. When those votes are corrupt, when they're irregular, when they get caught, they're terminated, and I very easily win," Trump said, falsely. "In all states, I very easily win, the swing states."
Reportedly filmed last week, Trump's remarks were posted online days after a pair of key battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified President-elect Joe Biden's victories, further solidifying his decisive win in the November contest. In a viral clip, Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is seen ignoring what appears to be a phone call from Trump as he certifies the state's results.
Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia voting systems manager and a Republican, said Tuesday that Trump's constant lies about the results are directly responsible for recent intimidation and death threats against election workers in the state, which has been certified for Biden.
"Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it's not right," said Sterling.
Refusing once again to concede defeat even with the transition to the Biden administration officially in motion, Trump evinced no concern that his remarks could lead to violence against election workers, who he baselessly accused of being complicit in a vast conspiracy to steal the election.
As Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones noted, "Because the speech was prerecorded and posted to Facebook, news networks didn't have an opportunity to cut him off once he began spewing falsehoods. From now on, social media may be this one-term president's only outlet."
Facebook and Twitter both appended misinformation warnings to the president's posts circulating the speech, which has been shared nearly 250,000 times on Facebook.
Watch the full speech:
Just days after a top Georgia official warned that President Donald Trump's lies about the November election results are putting lives at risk, the outgoing incumbent late Wednesday released a 46-minute speech jam-packed with blatant falsehoods and fabrications about mass voter fraud that even his handpicked attorney general has rejected.
Characterizing his remarks from the White House as perhaps "the most important speech I've ever made," the outgoing president posted the extended rant on Facebook amid news that the United States reported its worst 24-hour coronavirus death toll--at least 2,760 people--since the pandemic began. Covid-19 hospitalizations, according to the latest figures, are also reaching record highs in the U.S.
But Trump did not mention the catastrophic public health crisis during his speech, opting instead to ramble on about "shocking irregularities, abuses, and fraud" that he and his self-described "elite strike force" of attorneys have repeatedly failed to substantiate in court.
As his lawyers continue to rack up losses, Trump used his speech to openly plead with the Supreme Court--to which he has appointed three right-wing justices--to intervene on his behalf, an unlikely scenario given the often comical weakness of his legal team's performances in lower court fights.
"Maybe you'll have a re-vote, but I don't think that's appropriate. When those votes are corrupt, when they're irregular, when they get caught, they're terminated, and I very easily win," Trump said, falsely. "In all states, I very easily win, the swing states."
Reportedly filmed last week, Trump's remarks were posted online days after a pair of key battleground states, Wisconsin and Arizona, certified President-elect Joe Biden's victories, further solidifying his decisive win in the November contest. In a viral clip, Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is seen ignoring what appears to be a phone call from Trump as he certifies the state's results.
Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia voting systems manager and a Republican, said Tuesday that Trump's constant lies about the results are directly responsible for recent intimidation and death threats against election workers in the state, which has been certified for Biden.
"Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it's not right," said Sterling.
Refusing once again to concede defeat even with the transition to the Biden administration officially in motion, Trump evinced no concern that his remarks could lead to violence against election workers, who he baselessly accused of being complicit in a vast conspiracy to steal the election.
As Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones noted, "Because the speech was prerecorded and posted to Facebook, news networks didn't have an opportunity to cut him off once he began spewing falsehoods. From now on, social media may be this one-term president's only outlet."
Facebook and Twitter both appended misinformation warnings to the president's posts circulating the speech, which has been shared nearly 250,000 times on Facebook.
Watch the full speech:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.