Donald Trump is back at it again with claims that the 2020 election was somehow stolen from him. Rather than admitting he lost, the twice-impeached former president, 76, demanded reinstatement as president last week, or in his own words, “a new Election, immediately.” This came shortly after news emerged that Facebook temporarily limited a controversial story about Hunter Biden‘s laptop in news feeds before the election.
Trump was referring to Facebook’s (now Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s comments on Joe Rogan’s Spotify podcast that a New York Post article about how Biden’s laptop “fit the pattern” of divisive content, including “Russian propaganda,” that the FBI had warned them about. The laptop story sparked controversy and led many readers to question Facebook’s authenticity. Zuckerberg revealed that the social media site limited the story’s reach on the news feeds for 5 or 7 days.
We’re about 10 weeks before the 2022 midterms and Donald Trump is still — openly — talking about undoing/rejecting the 2020 presidential election results.
Which still can’t happen, legally or logistically.
Which still (for now) doesn’t seem to affect his chances in 2024. pic.twitter.com/C1lqzjn5cR
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) August 29, 2022
On Truth Social, Trump continues to promote far-right conspiracy theories regarding election fraud while, the Washington Post reports, some Republicans are clearly trying to distance themselves from his personal qualms as they approach midterm elections in November.
In his recent statement, Trump wrote (in all caps, of course), “FBI BURIED THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY BEFORE THE ELECTION knowing that, if they didn’t, ‘Trump would have easily won the 2020 Presidential Election.’ This is massive FRAUD & ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before in our Country.” The billionaire continued, “REMEDY: Declare the rightful winner or, and this would be the minimal solution, declare the 2020 Election irreparably compromised and have a new Election, immediately!”
“You can see a very nervous guy right now,” in Donald Trump’s barrage of posts on Truth Social, says @oneunderscore__. “It looks like a guy who’s afraid of going to jail.” pic.twitter.com/k28GNUB571
— Zerlina on Peacock (@ZerlinaShow) September 1, 2022
While Facebook did allow users to share the story, it popped up less in news feeds, so it was then seen less. During Rogan’s interview, Zuckerberg explained that he could not remember if the FBI told him about the New York Post piece, but he thought the story “fit the pattern.” Later, Meta tweeted that “nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop story is new” and that the “FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference — nothing specific about Hunter Biden.”
