Trump claimed mail-in ballots were found in a river. There were no ballots and also no river.
President Trump is going to have to find another allegation of voter fraud to exaggerate.
Trump has falsely tried to claim mail-in ballots are rife with fraud, particularly focusing on an example from Wisconsin where some mail-in ballots were allegedly found in a river. But as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, there was no river involved in the incident Trump keeps talking about, and also no ballots.
Over the past few weeks, Trump has repeatedly mentioned eight mail-in ballots "found in a river." That included at Tuesday night's presidential debate, where the singular river became "creeks" and also "river," and some of the found ballots "just happened to have the name 'Trump'" on them, Trump claimed. A reporter asked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany about the claims on Thursday, but she wouldn't answer who was allegedly doing it or what river was being mentioned, instead bring up an incident where mail was found in a ditch in Wisconsin.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even if Trump and McEnany were just mistaken about the body of water, their claim of voter fraud was also off base. The director of the Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed Thursday that the mail found in a ditch outside Appleton, Wisconsin, "did not include any Wisconsin ballots." She added that she didn't know if ballots from other states were found.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Gaza ceasefire teeters as Netanyahu orders strikesSpeed Read Israel accused Hamas of firing on Israeli troops
-
Argentina’s Milei buoyed by regional election winsSpeed Read Argentine President Javier Milei is an ally of President Trump, receiving billions of dollars in backing from his administration
-
Proposed Trump-Putin talks in Budapest on holdSpeed Read Trump apparently has no concrete plans to meet with Putin for Ukraine peace talks
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rivalSpeed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resignSpeed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange


