Name: Tweet, Shared by Trump, Misrepresents Photo as 'Mail-in Voting' Protest - FactCheck.org
Brand: factcheck.org
SKU: factcheck-org-52
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Tweet, Shared by Trump, Misrepresents Photo as 'Mail-in Voting' Protest - FactCheck.org

preview

Quick TakeFull Story&nbsp;President Donald Trump shared a tweet on Aug. 17 falsely claiming that a photo of a sea of protesters shows “thousands of Seattle Democrats” gathered “to demand mail-in voting because it’s too dangerous to vote in-person.”The tweet shared by the president was posted the day before on ancalled “Walter Cronkite,” a reference to the known for his credibility and reliability. The account’s biography includes the hashtag “#fakenews.”also amplified the falsehood, gaining thousands of shares in a number of hours.The photo was indeed taken in Seattle — but it actually shows a Black Lives Matter protest from early June.A reverse image search of the picture brought us to aon the website westseattleblog.com. The June 6 post identified the photo as a protest in West Seattle and credited the image to Paul Weatherman.Weatherman, who on Twitter as a Seattle-based aerial photographer,the image and others the same day on Twitter.So the image doesn’t show a protest “to demand mail-in voting.”Mail-in voting is nothing new for Washington, which is one of that already conducts “all-mail elections,” to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Another 29 states and Washington, D.C., have “no excuse” absentee or mail-in voting, according to NCSL, meaning anyone can choose to vote by mail without specifying a reason. And about a quarter of ballots cast in the 2018 general elections nationwide were by mail, as we’ve before.But amid a push for mail-in voting in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are that Trump’s opposition to additional funding for the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service and operational changes made by the new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, would prevent the Postal Service from handling the increase in mail-in ballots.On Aug. 18, the postmaster general that he would be “suspending” such “operational initiatives” until after the election is concluded — “[t]o avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.”There have been some in recent days targeted at DeJoy, including in North Carolina and Washington, D.C.Trump and his reelection campaign have attempted to undermine the process of mail-in voting — drawing between mail-in and absentee ballots, for example, and advancing the specter of potential fraud by using .SourcesKiely, Eugene. “.” FactCheck.org. 14 Aug 2020.Kiely, Eugene, et. al. “.” FactCheck.org. 30 Jul 2020.Farley, Robert. “.” FactCheck.org. 14 Aug 2020.“.” Press release, U.S. Postal Service. 18 Aug 2020.Record, Tracy. “” West Seattle Blog. 6 Jun 2020.Rieder, Rem. “.” FactCheck.org. 7 Aug 2020.Teo, Armus. “.” Washington Post. 17 Aug 2020.“.” National Conference of State Legislatures. 1 May 2020.Weartherman, Paul (@paulweatherman). “” Twitter. 6 Jun 2020.Ask FactCheckQ: Are hospitals inflating the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths so they can be paid more?A: Recent legislation pays hospitals higher Medicare rates for COVID-19 patients and treatment, but there is no evidence of fraudulent reporting.Have a question?

Quick TakeFull Story&nbsp;President Donald Trump shared a tweet on Aug. 17 falsely claiming that a photo of a sea of protesters shows “thousands of Seattle Democrats” gathered “to demand mail-in voting because it’s too dangerous to vote in-person.”The tweet shared by the president was posted the day before on ancalled “Walter Cronkite,” a reference to the known for his credibility and reliability. The account’s biography includes the hashtag “#fakenews.”also amplified the falsehood, gaining thousands of shares in a number of hours.The photo was indeed taken in Seattle — but it actually...

public

Angelo Fichera

FactCheck.org is a nonprofit website that describes itself as a "consumer advocate for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics". It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

Tweet, Shared by Trump, Misrepresents Photo as 'Mail-in Voting' Protest - FactCheck.org

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS