LIES DEEMED DANGEROUS
OUTGOING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP CRIES ELECTION FRAUD, STOKES
TENSIONS
The lies uttered by Donald Trump since yesterday to cast doubt on
the outcome of the election are dangerous, undemocratic and fuel the cynicism
of Americans, say experts and his political opponents.
“It is irresponsible for a President of the United States to say
such words. He wants to stir up tensions, "said Julien Tourreille,
researcher at the Observatory on the United States of the Raoul-Dandurand
Chair.
Since yesterday, the Republican presidential candidate has
multiplied the half-truths and the publication of false information regarding
the outcome of the vote (see images below).
“Honestly, we won the election,” he boasted at around 2:20 am
yesterday in a speech from the White House, when nothing was less certain at
that time.
Stop recount
At the same time, Donald Trump protested against electoral
"fraud", without giving further details, and called for a complete
end to the counting of the votes. “We're going to go to the Supreme Court, we
want all voting to stop. "
Camp Biden denounced these "scandalous" and
"unprecedented" presidential remarks.
"This is a deliberate attempt to deprive American citizens of
their rights," responded the Democrat's campaign team, which says it is
ready to embark on a legal battle.
Unfounded accusations
@RealDonaldTrump also posted at least five tweets since yesterday
that Twitter flagged as potentially misleading, including one accusing
Democrats of "stealing the election" and several questioning ballot
counts in key states that he was on the way to losing.
On Facebook, since Tuesday, the billionaire's posts have almost
always been accompanied by a corrigendum that leads to a clearinghouse on
voting in the United States, created by the platform.
Since the 2016 election, social networks have deployed a
significant arsenal of measures to combat disinformation and whitewash their
reputation, which has been tainted by manipulation operations orchestrated from
abroad.
Not a first
Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the legitimacy of postal voting,
used en masse by Democratic voters during a pandemic, in the past.
"If he wanted to sow
doubt in case of defeat [the mail-in vote] was the perfect excuse,"
believes Jonathan Paquin, professor of political science at Laval University.
But whether the outgoing president wins or loses, his fraudulent
statements will be damaging to American democracy in the longer run, experts
point out.
"This kind of behavior on the part of a president is corrosive
for a democracy," laments the political scientist.
Closely watched
To combat misinformation, Facebook and Twitter have reported
several Donald Trump posts to their users that may be inaccurate or misleading.
Since polling day, the Republican candidate has chained messages suggesting
that there is electoral fraud.
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