Since Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, a vocal group of his supporters has loudly promoted the notion of widespread voter fraud. But on Tuesday night, as Trump’s 2024 victory became evident, the rhetoric shifted. Reports from The New York Times and The Washington Post indicate that social media accounts linked to election denialism seemed to accept that this time, the election was secure—thanks to their supposed efforts.
One member of X’s “Election Integrity Committee” even posted, “Shoutout to you all for keeping this election from being stolen this year. You are all heroes!”
Cleta Mitchell, a Trump activist and former Oklahoma politician, told the Times that the movement’s “election integrity warriors” had managed to prevent the alleged irregularities they believe took place in 2020 from happening again.
Their claim centers on an unsubstantiated belief that in 2020, Democrats conducted ambiguous and widespread voter fraud to “steal” the election from Trump. In reality, every state’s results were certified by governors, confirming Biden’s win without credible evidence of fraud.
Despite the lack of proof, election denial has flourished online and persisted into this year’s Election Day. On X, posts about supposed voting machine issues in Pennsylvania—a key swing state—peaked at 658 posts per minute around 1:20 p.m., only to drop significantly as Trump’s win became likely. Similar trends were observed on Telegram, another platform popular with far-right groups.
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“As soon as it started to look like Trump was going to win, the election denialism went very, very quiet,” Welton Chang, CEO of Pyrra Technologies, which tracks alt-right social networks, told the Times. Trump, notably, was no longer alleging fraud in Philadelphia.
This shift suggests that election denialism was likely a tactic aimed at casting doubt on a Democratic win and justifying Trump’s resistance to any unfavorable outcome.
While reports from the Times and Post note a slight uptick in skepticism from some on the left about the 2024 results, Democratic leaders, including Kamala Harris, have largely accepted the outcome.
Election deniers on the right, meanwhile, credit their “vigilance” for a smooth process, rather than recognizing the dedication of poll workers who serve year after year. However, the election did experience minor issues, including bomb threats at polling stations in blue-leaning districts of swing states, which were later traced back to Russian sources. These threats drew little concern from election deniers, with some even accusing Democrats of orchestrating the hoaxes as part of a plot to undermine Trump’s victory.