President Trump speaks to the press as he departs the White House in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo: Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
President Trump responded via tweets Tuesday evening to Twitter fact-checking him for the first time on his earlier unsubstantiated posts claiming mail-in ballots in November's election would be fraudulent.
What he's saying: "Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election. They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post," the president tweeted. "Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"
Of note: Trump made the same claims on Facebook about vote-by-mail, which has not thus far been fact-checked.
- A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed: "We believe that people should be able to have a robust debate about the electoral process, which is why we have crafted our policies to focus on misrepresentations that would interfere with the vote."
The big picture: Trump and other Republicans have largely tried to push back on attempts by several states that sought early voting options in response to the pandemic.
- Mail voting is "more vulnerable to fraud than voting in person," but it's still rare — as are all forms of voter fraud in the U.S., the New York Times notes.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.