About 540,000 voters went to polling places in Arizona’s Maricopa County on Election Day, including roughly 250,000 who voted in person and over 290,000 who dropped off mail-in and provisional ballots, according to election officials. But online posts falsely claim that while 540,000 voters went to the polls, county officials only counted 248,000 ballots. All the ballots were counted.
Asked about Donald Trump’s dinner meeting attended by Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist, Rep. Kevin McCarthy claimed the former president “came out four times and condemned him.” That’s not accurate. Trump had repeatedly said he didn’t know who Fuentes was, but he stopped short of condemning him or his ideas.
In response to a civil suit, lawyers for the Food and Drug Administration described the agency’s warnings about the unapproved use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 as “recommendations.” Although that description doesn’t reveal new information, some conservative outlets have falsely claimed it’s an “outrageous” revelation and a change in the FDA’s position.
Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill, has been shown to prevent severe COVID-19 and death. An online post alleging the drug is a “fraud” and “should be taken off the market” neglects to mention this important information, and falsely says ivermectin is superior.
Social media posts falsely suggest there was fraud in the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, citing a TV graphic that showed Republican State Sen. Doug Mastriano with nearly 500,000 more votes than Democratic Attorney General Josh Shapiro, but Mastriano trailing 41.6% to 56.6%. The graphic showed inaccurate numbers that were quickly corrected on air.
The bankruptcy of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has sparked an unfounded claim that its former CEO had conspired with Ukraine and Democratic politicians to launder U.S. aid money. FTX helped make crypto donations available to Ukraine; it wasn’t taking any assets from Ukraine.
Florida law allows election officials to start counting early in-person and mail-in ballots before Election Day. But social media posts falsely claim Florida counted all of its more than 7 million votes in five hours on Election Day and states that took longer committed “voter fraud.” Most states don’t allow vote counting to begin until Election Day or after polls close.
Hospitals across the country are seeing a spike of respiratory syncytial virus infections among children. Experts say the spike is most likely caused by an immunity gap created by the lack of exposure to the virus over the past couple of years. There’s no evidence the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine is the cause, as viral posts falsely claim.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago home, Trump rattled off a string of familiar claims.
Close Senate races are underway in some states that have different laws regarding ballot deadlines and tabulation. But some high-profile Republicans — including former President Donald Trump — have suggested, without any evidence, that “they” are trying to “cheat.” Officials in those states say they are simply trying to count every legitimate vote.