Trump claimed mail-in ballots were found in a river. There were no ballots and also no river.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
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.
-
The ‘ravenous’ demand for Cornish mineralsUnder the Radar Growing need for critical minerals to power tech has intensified ‘appetite’ for lithium, which could be a ‘huge boon’ for local economy
-
Why are election experts taking Trump’s midterm threats seriously?IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the president muses about polling place deployments and a centralized electoral system aimed at one-party control, lawmakers are taking this administration at its word
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Ex-South Korean leader gets life sentence for insurrectionSpeed Read South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison over his declaration of martial law in 2024
-
Rubio boosts Orbán ahead of Hungary electionSpeed Read Far-right nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is facing a tough re-election fight after many years in power
-
Key Bangladesh election returns old guard to powerSpeed Read The Bangladesh Nationalist Party claimed a decisive victory
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
