Donald Trump's 2020 campaign is making tens of millions of robocalls to supporters, urging them to vote absentee, while the president continues to hold rallies and press conferences pushing conspiracy theories about voting by mail.
"Robocalls sent by Trump surrogates Kimberly Guilfoyle and the President's daughter-in-law Lara Trump are encouraging Republican voters to use absentee ballots to vote in November, calling them one of the 'best ways' to support President Trump in November," CNN reported Thursday. "Both calls attempt to draw a false distinction between absentee voting and other forms of mail-in voting. Guilfoyle's call goes so far as to claim the 'radical left' wants to 'confuse you' on mail-in voting and that 'Democrats want to scare you away from voting absentee.'
"Absentee voting and universal vote-by-mail may sound similar but could not be more different," says Guilfoyle in the robocaoll. "Absentee voting is safe, secure and supported by President Trump. The radical left wants universal vote-by-mail, which is proven to be filled with fraud, abuse and mistakes."
CNN noted, "none of those assertions about vote-by-mail are true."
"Trump's daughter-in-law uses a similar script in her robocall, encouraging listeners to use the absentee ballot sent to voters from the Trump campaign, before accusing 'radical Democrats' of playing politics during the coronavirus pandemic. According to data from NoMoRobo, an anti-robocall protection app, the Lara Trump robocall, delivered via dozens of different phone numbers, was made 53.8 million times across the US in September alone," CNN noted.
The robocalls were so false CNN needed to add a "Facts First" flag to the story.
"Both robocalls are littered with misinformation. Experts say there is little difference between absentee ballots and voting-by-mail. There is no evidence that voting by mail leads to widespread fraud and abuse. It is also false to suggest that Democrats prefer universal voting-by-mail to absentee ballots," CNN reported.
