Trump spreads Newsmax-fueled conspiracy about Brad Raffensperger's nonexistent brother
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 back with another far-fetched conspiracy theory about Georgia's election results.
As certified election results and multiple recounts proved, President-elect Joe Biden won the typically red state in the 2020 election. But that hasn't stopped Trump from launching lawsuits and lies aimed at invalidating the election results there, including early Wednesday morning, when he tweeted a provably false claim about the state's Republican secretary of state.
Brad Raffensperger, who runs the state's elections, has faced threats and wild conspiracy theories after refusing to listen to Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the election results. A commentator on the far-right network Newsmax, Dick Morris, tried to draw up another one Tuesday night, this time claiming Raffensperger's brother worked for the Chinese technology company Huawei. Trump repeated the claim in a Wednesday tweet, implying the alleged relation compromised the secretary of state's election integrity.
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.
Someone named Ron Raffensperger does have a high-level spot at Huawei. But just like thousands of people who share last names in this country, he and the secretary of state aren't brothers.
Trump's continued conspiracy-mongering comes just days before Georgians return to the polls for a runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the Senate. The president and his supporters have tried to undermine confidence in Georgia's election system, with some even encouraging Republicans not to vote in what they're claiming is an insecure election. Kathryn Krawczyk
Update 11:45 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to clarify that Dick Morris made the claim while appearing as a commentator on Newsmax, and to remove an earlier report that Raffensperger has no brother.
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.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
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
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
