‘Disputed’ and ‘Misleading’

Twitter labels Trump post about mail ballots as ‘disputed’ and ‘misleading’

The president claimed, without evidence, there were “problems and discrepancies” with mail-in ballots “all over the USA.”

By MYAH WARD

Twitter blocked a post by President Donald Trump on Monday that claimed, without evidence, there were “problems and discrepancies” with mail-in ballots “all over the USA.”

“Must have final total on November 3rd,” Trump wrote at the end of his post.

The social media company said the tweet was “disputed and might be misleading about how to participate in an election or another civic process.”

The president’s tweet came as the Supreme Court rejected a six-day extension for absentee ballots in Wisconsin amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the court siding with Republicans and splitting 5-3 along ideological lines. The court’s order came just minutes before the Senate voted to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Trump’s third nominee to the high court.

Trump’s misleading claim on Monday added to his continued assault on mail-in voting. While mail-in ballots have proved to be secure and are already used broadly in several states, the president has issued false and misleading information about the process.

In the first presidential debate last month, the president challenged the security of the November election, claiming mail ballots might be “manipulated.”

“This is going to be fraud like you’ve never seen,” the president said of the expansion of mail voting during the pandemic, without offering any evidence to support such a broad assertion.