Unfounded claims of late-night cheating in the battleground states began spreading on Tuesday evening after an early wave of Donald Trump wins cooled off with ballots still being counted.
Video of trucks arriving at a counting center in Pennsylvania by MSNBC was included alongside unevidenced commentary that the Democrats would fraudulently flip the key battleground state for Kamala Harris.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, a video showed what appeared to be new ballot trucks arriving in the night as Trump led Pennsylvania with 92 percent of the vote counted. Without any evidence, social media users began calling the footage proof of cheating.
Newsweek has contacted the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s media representatives via email for comment.
Heather Khalifa/Getty Images
Elsewhere, comedian Roseanne Barr, responding to a post on X that said, “PA officials told them to expect a ‘big drop’ of absentee ballots tonight”, wrote, “Cheating incoming.”
Barr later said without grounds for her claim: “Get your cameras ready. Record The cheating.
“They will not gaslight us this time. Watch ballot drops. Stay up. Film. Record.
“We failed last time when we were caught by insane cheating in the middle If the night. Not this time.
“‘No Evidence’ will not be repeated This time.”
Actor Kevin Sorbo, a staunch Trump supporter, added to the commentary, posting on X, “CBS News is saying that Pennsylvania and Arizona will take until Thursday to count.
“Hell no. Call it. No cheating this time.”
Conservative commentator End Wokeness, whose comments about election fraud Newsweek has previously debunked, included the MSNBC footage in a post viewed 2.5 million times and wrote: “Trucks full of ballots pulling up at 12am in Philly. Nothing to see here, folks.”
User Sara Rose, responding to End Wokeness’s post, wrote: “Philly and Detroit are cheating. They’re going to do everything they can to rig the election.”
Donald Trump had pre-empted claims of cheating in Pennsylvania with no evidence even before results began coming in, writing on Truth Social on November 5: “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”
Trump’s claims were dismissed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner who said there was “no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation.”
“We have invited complaints and allegations of improprieties all day,” Krasner added.
“If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now. Right now. We are not holding our breath.”
CNN confirmed the Philadelphia Police Department was “not aware” of what Trump was referring to and didn’t know of any issues with voting that required a law enforcement response.
The legacy of Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him appears to have motivated supporters to scrutinize the running of the 2024 election, with little motivation beyond suspicion.
Voters have been encouraged online to film and report counts. The New York Times reported on Sunday that conservative influencer James O’Keefe had “assembled a corps of election workers and poll monitors planning to secretly film voting and ballot counting in states across the country.”
Conservative influencer Steven Crowder added to the sense of suspicion about the Pennsylvania count on election night, posting a video of what appeared to be trucks with ballots arriving for a count.
Crowder, in a post on X viewed 1.7 million times, wrote: “🚨 PENNSYLVANIA ALERT🚨
“THE FATE OF OUR NATION IS IN A MYSTERIOUS BOX TRUCK CONVOY!
“NEW WORKERS ARE COMING IN TO COUNT VOTES.
“We are following this closely.
“Stay tuned for updates.”
On Tuesday morning, several election ballot scanners were inoperative at multiple polling locations in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of State said that it was in contact with officials in Cambria County to resolve the technical issues.
