Trump made another worrying claim about jailing election cheaters

Donald Trump has spent more than four years spreading claims that his 2020 election loss was the result of fraud, and as the nation gears up for the 2024 election, the former president has continued making worrying claims. 

In a Truth Social post published on September 7th, Rolling Stone noted Trump made a particularly terrifying statement that saw the former president write that he would jail all those who were involved in electron fraud when he won in November. 

Trump wrote that he, along with many attorneys and legal scholars, was watching the 2024 Presidential Election “very closely” because he knew “better than most” the “rampant Cheating and Skullduggery” Democrats wrought in the 2020 Presidential Election. 

“It was a Disgrace to our Nation! Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny,” the former president continued before adding that he would prosecute all cheaters when he won. 

“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote. 

“We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T!” Trump added. “Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”

The former president’s post made headlines for a day or two, but the news cycle moved on. However, Trump continually revisited his ideas on Truth Social and decided to focus on one group in particular during a weird September 23rd. 

Trump decided to target overseas Americans and warn them that if they were caught cheating, then they would be jailed, and he claimed that Democrats were working hard to ensure they would get millions of votes from Americans abroad. 

“The Democrats are talking about how they’re working so hard to get millions of votes from Americans living overseas. Actually, they are getting ready to CHEAT!” the former president wrote without providing any proof to support his claim. 

Trump claimed Democrats were going to use the Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) to obtain millions of votes, and claimed it was a program that emailed ballots to Americans overseas “without any citizenship check or verification of identity.”

“(Foreign interference?) Remember they say, we have the ‘most secure elections in history,’ and anyone can get a ballot emailed to them!” Trump wrote. However, there was one problem with his claim. It wasn’t true. But we’ll get to that.

The rest of the former president’s message suggested Democrats wanted to “dilute the TRUE vote of our beautiful military and their families, who Comrade Kamala has totally disrespected and abandoned,” and he called on Republicans to act. 

“Republicans must act to stop them from stealing our military votes. WATCH! Remember, IF YOU VOTE ILLEGALLY, YOU’RE GOING TO JAIL,” Trump concluded ominously. Let’s look at why Trump’s claims are problematic. 

The Associated Press reported that local elections officials do verify the identity of those living abroad or filling out an absentee ballot, just as they would for any American voting within the country. Individuals also need to register and request a ballot. 

Overseas voters, as well as all voters within the United States, need to confirm under the penalty of perjury that they are indeed American citizens when they register for their ballot according to the Associated Press. 

Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education Michelle Ciulla Lipkin told the Associated Press that false claims like the one Trump made “are typical of the broader disinformation campaign to sow doubt in the security of our elections.”

Lipkin said she believed such claims would likely continue, adding: “At this point, it’s a pretty obvious playbook, which is why people have to be very critical of the messages they receive about elections and that they go to their election officials for reliable information.”

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