Twitter will label premature claims of election victory
Appearing again on Fox in her personal capacity as a Trump campaign adviser from Miami-Dade County on Monday morning, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany brushed off reports that President Trump is prepared to declare victory on Election Night if he is close to 270 electoral votes, even if large numbers of ballots have yet to be counted.
Asked if there has been talk about this, McEnany responded, “No. What that is is that is the Joe Biden crowd knowing that they are on the brink of defeat, making things up and peddling it in the press. This President is prepared to win resoundingly.”
However a senior Trump campaign adviser told CNN’s Jim Acosta Sunday, that the Trump campaign plans to be very aggressive on Election Night and is prepared to declare victory if the President is close to the 270 electoral votes needed to win reelection.
Pressed further on the campaign’s strategy on handling the period of time when key states like Pennsylvania will continue to count ballots after Nov. 3, she said, “we believe that Americans deserve to know the victor of the election on Election Night,” falsely claiming that this process would be “subject to fraud.”
Per a CNN fact check, there is no requirement that the result of the election be announced on the night of Election Day and states. When we do know the winner that night, it is not because complete results have been tabulated by election authorities; it is because media outlets have used the available data to make a projection.
Vote tallies always change after Election Day as absentee ballots and provisional ballots get counted; results that are publicly reported on election night are always “unofficial” and “preliminary.” The official, final count is typically certified weeks later.
McEnany also confirmed that the President would spend Election Night at the White House. Asked whether she and the President would be together celebrating if he wins, McEnany responded, “Yes. We’ll be there at the White House in DC.”
How networks would handle Trump declaring victory prematurely:
