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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Online Posts Share Altered Photo of Taylor Swift With Bogus Political Sign

Online Posts Share Altered Photo of Taylor Swift With Bogus Political Sign

Taylor Swift has previously endorsed political candidates, including Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Online posts, however, share an altered photo of Swift that purports to show she endorses former President Donald Trump’s false claim that he won in 2020 and that Democrats “cheated” in the election.

Number of Counties Won in Presidential Election Doesn’t Determine Outcome

Number of Counties Won in Presidential Election Doesn’t Determine Outcome

Democrats tend to win in densely populated counties, while Republicans win more sparse, rural counties. In 2020, the counties won by President Joe Biden had 67 million more residents than counties won by former President Donald Trump. Yet a social media post falsely asserts that because Biden won with fewer counties than Trump, “something isn’t adding up.”

Online Post Misrepresents 2020 Wisconsin Voter Data, Turnout

Online Post Misrepresents 2020 Wisconsin Voter Data, Turnout

Nearly 3.3 million votes were cast in the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, which the state calculated as a record turnout of 73%. A social media post tries to cast doubt on the results by citing incomplete data and claiming it shows “a registered voter turnout of 94%.”

Fox News and Dominion Voting Not Owned By Same Company, Contrary to Online Posts

Fox News and Dominion Voting Not Owned By Same Company, Contrary to Online Posts

Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for defamation, alleging the news organization spread lies about the company after the 2020 election. After the suit was settled, social media posts falsely claimed that Fox and Dominion Voting Systems were owned by the same company, BlackRock. BlackRock does not own any shares of Dominion Voting Systems.

Early Release of ‘QAnon Shaman’ Due to Plea and Prison Protocols, Contrary to Online Claims

Early Release of ‘QAnon Shaman’ Due to Plea and Prison Protocols, Contrary to Online Claims

Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” was sentenced to 41 months in prison for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but he was released early to a halfway house on March 28 because of his plea agreement and prison protocols. Social media posts falsely claim that his release was due to videos shown by Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson.

Social Media Claims Misrepresent Election Software CEO’s Arrest

Social Media Claims Misrepresent Election Software CEO’s Arrest

The arrest of a CEO whose company maintained poll worker data for Los Angeles County has sparked a wave of false voter fraud claims. County District Attorney George Gascón has said that the “alleged conduct had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results.”

Post Misleadingly Equates 2016 Democratic Effort to Trump’s 2020 ‘Alternate Electors’

Post Misleadingly Equates 2016 Democratic Effort to Trump’s 2020 ‘Alternate Electors’

After the 2016 presidential election, some progressive Democrats tried to convince electors for Donald Trump to switch their Electoral College votes to Hillary Clinton. But a conservative commentator misleadingly claimed in a social media post that the Democrats were “calling for alternate electors” — as Trump did after losing the 2020 election.

False Reports of Wisconsin Assembly’s Action on 2020 Electors

False Reports of Wisconsin Assembly’s Action on 2020 Electors

A resolution introduced in the Wisconsin Assembly to reverse the state’s 2020 presidential electoral votes for President Joe Biden was referred to the Rules Committee on Jan. 25. The committee chair tweeted that the resolution was “illegal” and would not advance. But conservative websites falsely reported the assembly passed the resolution.

Rudy Giuliani’s Bogus Election Fraud Claims

Rudy Giuliani’s Bogus Election Fraud Claims

A New York court suspended Rudy Giuliani’s license to practice law in that state for making “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about the 2020 presidential election results. We recap some of the bogus claims that we have previously debunked.

Facebook Post Misleads on Bipartisan Capitol Attack Report and Interview

Facebook Post Misleads on Bipartisan Capitol Attack Report and Interview

On June 8, a bipartisan group of senators released a report on the security and intelligence failures related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The report did not “single out” former President Donald Trump “for inciting … the riots,” as a Facebook post from the advocacy group Occupy Democrats could lead social media users to believe.