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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Trump Won the Popular Vote, Contrary to Claims Online

Trump Won the Popular Vote, Contrary to Claims Online

President-elect Donald Trump is the first Republican presidential candidate to win the popular vote in 20 years. Social media users have wrongly claimed that Trump lost the popular vote, but they are confusing the popular vote with a majority of votes. The unofficial results show Trump received slightly less than a majority, but more votes than any candidate.

Post Misleadingly Questions Unfinished Ballot Counting in Some States

Post Misleadingly Questions Unfinished Ballot Counting in Some States

Some states were still counting ballots weeks after Election Day in accordance with their regulations, state officials and an election law expert said. But an Instagram post misleadingly implied that the ongoing vote counts were evidence of some unspecified election malfeasance.

Trump’s Agenda: Deportation

Trump’s Agenda: Deportation

On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to begin “the largest deportation program in American history.” How exactly he plans to carry that out, and how many he ultimately intends to deport, remains unclear.

Trump’s Agenda: Tariffs

Trump’s Agenda: Tariffs

While campaigning for a second term in office, President-elect Donald Trump declared “tariff” to be his “favorite word” and “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” We’ll explain how tariffs work, what Trump has proposed and what experts say about it, and what happened during Trump’s first term.

Musk’s Starlink Was Not Connected to Vote Tabulation, Contrary to Online Claims

Musk’s Starlink Was Not Connected to Vote Tabulation, Contrary to Online Claims

Elon Musk’s Starlink system helped provide internet access to communities affected by the recent hurricanes. But online posts spread baseless claims that Starlink “uploaded votes in swing states” and helped Donald Trump win the election. Experts said voting machines are not connected to the internet during tabulation; one state election official called the claims “utter garbage.”

No Evidence Harris Campaign Paid for Celebrity Endorsements

No Evidence Harris Campaign Paid for Celebrity Endorsements

Vice President Kamala Harris received many celebrity endorsements leading up to the election, including from Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Eminem, Megan Thee Stallion and Lizzo. Social media posts have made the unfounded claim that these celebrities were collectively paid $20 million for their endorsements. We’ve found no evidence to support the claim.

Posts Falsely Claim CBS News Reported ‘Cheating’ in Election

Posts Falsely Claim CBS News Reported ‘Cheating’ in Election

Some social media posts falsely claimed that CBS News reported there was “cheating” in the 2024 presidential election that benefitted President-elect Donald Trump. We found no evidence of such a report, and a CBS News spokesperson said the outlet “did not report or say there was cheating in the election.”

Both Sides Distort Incomplete Vote Counts to Falsely Suggest Election Fraud

Both Sides Distort Incomplete Vote Counts to Falsely Suggest Election Fraud

Ballots were still being counted in the days following the 2024 election, but a claim that there was a suspicious gap of 15 million to 20 million votes as compared with the 2020 election has been circulating on social media. There is no such large gap — states were still counting their ballots — and even if there are fewer votes for the Democratic candidate than there were four years ago, that doesn’t prove fraud.

Google’s ‘Where to Vote’ Search Result Reflects Quirk of Candidate Surname, Not Bias

Google’s ‘Where to Vote’ Search Result Reflects Quirk of Candidate Surname, Not Bias

Social media users alleged bias against former President Donald Trump when a Google search on Election Day for “where to vote” returned an interactive map to find a person’s polling station when including the word “Harris” but not “Trump.” The reason is because “Harris” is a county in Texas, whereas “Trump” is not a location.

Raskin Didn’t Say He ‘Won’t Be Certifying the Election’

Raskin Didn’t Say He ‘Won’t Be Certifying the Election’

Social media users have spread a quote attributed to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, claiming he said “we won’t be certifying the election” if former President Donald Trump wins. Raskin responded, saying the quote is “100% fabricated” and that “America is having a free and fair election and Congress will certify the winner.” The origin of the posts appears to be a misleading account of Raskin’s comments in February.