President Trump drags Canada into U.S. election debate, spins voter fraud theory from Elections Canada tweet
It’s been two weeks since the U.S. election and despite several media outlets declaring Democratic nominee Joe Biden the victor, incumbent President Donald Trump is grasping at straws by not conceding the election. Trump’s latest claim drags Canada into the debate: using a tweet from Elections Canada, the president tried to convince the public that Democrats used an electronic voting system called Dominion to cheat.
THIS SAYS IT ALL! https://t.co/zZSspsJPe9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2020
With Biden’s margins growing across the country in states like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Trump has shifted focus from legal challenges and recounts to unfounded and baseless claims of voting fraud committed by Democrats. The president has alleged that both two prominent Democrats, Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, have ownership stakes in the company behind the Dominion voting system, and that the board of the company is pro-Democrat. However, Dominion had donated to both Clinton’s campaigns and Senate Majority Leader (Rep.), Mitch McConnell’s campaigns over the past few years.
He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more! https://t.co/Exb3C1mAPg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020
Earlier in the day, Elections Canada had written a series of different tweets which addressed a conspiracy theory about Canadian elections being fixed through an electronic voting system. While the claims which emerged from known conspiracy theorists is easy to change, as Canada doesn’t use electronic vote tabulators, but instead does hand counting. Part of what makes the hand counting a proficient system in Canada is the fact there are almost 300 million less voters in the country when compared to the U.S.
“Elections Canada does not use Dominion Voting Systems. We use paper ballots counted by hand in front of scrutineers and have never used voting machines or electronic tabulators to count votes in our 100-year history. #CdnPoli,” wrote the federal agency’s twitter account.
#DYK? 🗳️
We don’t use voting machines or electronic tabulators at the federal level in Canada. Ballots are marked by hand. Also, they are counted by hand in front of scrutineers. For more information, visit: https://t.co/YtnMCl3dZB…#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/FWgHRcRbcs— Elections Canada (@ElectionsCan_E) November 12, 2020
While Trump is continuing to try to stir up controversy surrounding his loss, beloved Canadian and presidential fact-checker for CNN, Daniel Dale addressed the president’s concerns.
This...does not say anything.
Conspiracy theories about Dominion, fomented by Trump, had spread to Canada, where people were like "DOMINION RIGS CANADIAN ELECTIONS TOO!!," so this tweet explained Canada's federal elections not only don't use Dominion but don't use any machines. pic.twitter.com/ZgYx9rwhE0— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 17, 2020
Perhaps Elections Canada should have been more aware of how Trump and company might use the tweet for their own purposes, but Elections Canada was certainly not saying "we of Elections Canada think Dominion does a lot of fraud."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 17, 2020
Some of the rhetoric emitting online has resulted in people opposing president Trump telling him to move to Canada, as he promised he would leave the U.S. if Biden defeated him in the election. In fact, ‘Move to Canada’ became one of the top trending topics on Twitter after the president tweeted about the Canadian election system.
Donald, please move to Canada! https://t.co/vwchNl2lJo
— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) November 17, 2020
Move to Canada. I dare you. https://t.co/TZT2yOeeIN
— no malarkey (@Ursopacos) November 17, 2020
While the suggestion to move to Canada is done to poke the bear, Canadians don’t seem inclined to welcome Trump north of the border.
Hello, speaking on behalf of all Canadians here...please stop telling Trump to move to canada. We really don’t want him. pic.twitter.com/39Yn9lHnvv
— Alana Zahorak (@AlanaZahorak) November 17, 2020
Canadians when they see Americans telling @realDonaldTrump to Move to Canada pic.twitter.com/yCCpsXkuC3
— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) November 17, 2020
When Canadians see "Move to Canada" trending for Trump pic.twitter.com/CQjALAAPYQ
— ochieng o (@okolewe) November 17, 2020
Yahoo News Canada has reached out to Elections Canada for a response on the president’s inference of their tweet.
"Our message on Twitter was intended to respond to the large number of questions we had received from people who mistakenly believed we use automated tabulating systems in federal elections. It shouldn’t be construed as anything other than that," wrote a spokesperson for Elections Canada.