Following the swearing-in of President Joe Biden on January 20, a Facebook message shared more than 6,140 times said: ‘No court has looked at the evidence and said that Biden won legally. Not one ”. This is untrue: government and federal judges have rejected more than 50 lawsuits by then-President Donald Trump and his allies that challenge the election or its outcome.
The post, which can be seen here, perpetuates the false story that there was widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election (here). U.S. election safety officials say the election was “the safest in U.S. history” ( here , here).
In the early morning of January 7, hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, the US Congress certified enough votes for the Electoral College for President Biden to declare him (here) the winner of the election.
As reported here by Reuters, state and federal judges – some appointed by Trump – have rejected more than 50 lawsuits from Trump or his allies on election fraud and other irregularities.
Independent experts, governors and state election officials from both parties say there was no evidence of widespread fraud.
According to the Washington Post here, instead of claiming ‘widespread fraud or election-changing conspiracy’, the lawsuits driven by Trump’s team and allies focused on minor complaints, which were largely rejected by judges for lack of evidence. “The Republicans did not provide evidence to support their allegations – only speculation, rumors or hearsay.”
On November 27, 2020, a federal appeals court rejected a Trump campaign proposal to declare Biden the winner of Pennsylvania. (here). At the time, Stephanos Bibas, on behalf of the three-judge panel, wrote: “Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. ‘It added:’ Charges require specific allegations and then evidence. We have not here. ‘
Similarly, on December 12, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lengthy lawsuit by the state of Texas and backed by Trump, which sought to throw out voting results in four states (here). In a brief order, the judges said Texas did not have the right to file the case.
On Dec. 1, then-Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election, even as President Trump continued his legal efforts to reverse his defeat (here). Two weeks later, Barr (here) announced his resignation from the Trump administration.
Reuters Fact Check has unleashed a series of similar false claims of election fraud. Some can be seen here, here, here, here, here.
VERDICT
Untrue. Courts have dismissed more than 50 lawsuits of alleged election fraud and irregularities by Trump and allies. U.S. election safety officials said the election was “the safest in U.S. history.”
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.