August 8, 2016

Philadelphia Elections Official Destroys Conservative Conspiracy Theory that National Elections Are “Rigged”

Sean Hannity cited the 2012 elections in Philadelphia to suggest the White House will be stolen from Donald Trump.

Flag: STILLFX/Shutterstock; Trump: Andrew Cline/Shutterstock; Hannity: Rick Scuteri/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


In recent weeks, Donald Trump has begun telling supporters that the 2016 election might be “rigged” against him—a conspiracy some observers view as a preemptive, ready-to-go excuse for a potential loss to Hillary Clinton, or an ominous signal that the Republican nominee is preparing to contest November’s results.

Some conservatives, including Fox News host Sean Hannity, have fanned the flames. CNN’s Brian Stelter featured a recent clip of Hannity serving as a mouthpiece for Trump’s claim:

On Sunday, Ryan Godfrey, a Philadelphia elections inspector, took the theory to task, calling out Hannity’s suggestion that the 2012 elections were also illegitimate. Godfrey, who Mother Jones confirmed was elected to be an inspector in 2013, explained on Twitter:

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate