Fact checking Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election during the Joe Rogan interview

In a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan—a conversation that lasted even longer than one of Donald Trump’s rally speeches—the former president repeated lies about the outcome of the 2020 election.

The conversation took place less than two weeks before Election Day and ranged from statements about life on Mars from illegal immigration to his plan to impose tariffs on everyday goods.

Here we fact check what Trump said about the 2020 election.

“I won the second election” in 2020.

Pants on fire!

Joe Biden earned his victory by winning more votes in the Electoral College. Biden received 306 electoral votes. compared to Trump’s 232. Biden’s path to victory included states such as Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. While the popular vote does not determine who wins the presidential election, Biden received about 7 million more votes nationwide than Trump.

The 2020 election results were verified in a variety of ways, with states certifying the results. Trump and his allies lost more than 60 claims. Congress accepted the results after Trump supporters violent riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. A panel of conservatives, including former federal judges, examined every claim by Trump and his allies about fraud and miscounts, and came to the conclusion that they “failed to present evidence of fraud or inaccurate results sufficiently significant to invalidate the results.”

Republicans in the Trump administration, including his then-attorney general, Bill Barrtold Trump his claims of a “stolen” election were “bullish.” Republican state election officialsincluding in Georgia, said the election was secure and that Biden won.

PolitiFact has documented some examples of election fraud in 2020for example, people voting on behalf of deceased relatives. But these incidents were not enough to change the outcome of the race.

States used “COVID to cheat” in 2020 elections.

Pants on fire!

Many states have made it easier to vote during the pandemic by sending a ballot or application for a ballot to registered voters. Some states that previously required voters to have a reason to vote by mail have relaxed that rule.

Trump is free to disagree with these changes, but he is wrong—and hilariously—to characterize them as a scam. These changes were made openly, through decrees, administrative actions or law. And when the state expanded access to voting by mail, it became available to Republican voters as well.

States “had to get legislative approval for what they did,” such as changing mail-in voting rules.

Rejecting Trump’s argument in lawsuits over the 2020 election results, various courts have made decisions that states do not have to pass every election policy through the legislature; instead, government officials can act independently when necessary. .

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, for example, sued four swing states that backed Bidenclaiming that their election procedures violated their state laws. IN one-page resolutionThe U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the lawsuit, concluding that Texas does not have standing to challenge other states’ election practices.

Experts say changing election rules without passing legislation is common.

“It’s often the case that there are gaps in election laws that state and local election officials typically fill based on their delegated authority,” said Rebecca Green, an election law professor at the College of William and Mary. “Thus, the assertion that all decisions about how elections are conducted must come from the legislature is inconsistent with the explicit delegation of authority to state election authorities.”

The changes, made without formal legislative approval, were made not only in Democratic or battleground states, but also by Republican officials in solidly pro-Trump states.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum issued order in March 2020, suspend the requirement that each county have at least one in-person voting site for counties that allow mail-in voting.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson issued decree allowing concerns about COVID-19 to become a compelling excuse for absentee voting in the November 2020 election.

In Paxton, Texas. Governor Greg Abbott added additional early voting days for the general election, citing challenges caused by the pandemic.

After Hurricane Michael struck northern Florida in October 2018, then-Governor Rick Scott cited emergency laws in his order repeal some rules regarding mail voting and in-person voting.

“If you look at Wisconsin, they have pretty much admitted that the election was rigged, robbed and stolen.”

Pants on fire!

Trump demanded a recount in Wisconsin, but the recounts supported Biden’s victory; At the end of the recount, Biden had 74 votes. The state confirmed Biden’s victory.

Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, concluding that the issues were not “clearly stated.”

The investigation, led by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who aligned himself with Trump in promoting his false claims, found no evidence the elections were called incorrectly.

The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also found no evidence widespread fraud. And government auditors found voting machines worked properly.

PolitiFact senior correspondent Amy Sherman contributed to this report.