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Ilhan Omar Just Brutally Fact Checked Trump's Michigan Election Lies and the Internet Is Cheering

Ilhan Omar Just Brutally Fact Checked Trump's Michigan Election Lies and the Internet Is Cheering
Preston Ehrler/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images // JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

It's been nearly two weeks since the Associated Press and every major news network, on the counsel of elections and data experts, projected that President-elect Joe Biden had defeated President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Trump has yet to acknowledge this reality, opting instead to fire off lies on Twitter that widespread voter fraud—of which there is no evidence and which his own administration assures doesn't exist—tipped the election to Biden.

The swing state of Michigan—which Biden won by nearly 150 thousand votes—is the latest target of Trump's lies.

On Tuesday night, Trump thought the state's most populous county—Wayne County—could reverse Biden's victory in the state.

The two Republicans on the county's four person Board of Canvassers initially voted not to certify its results, citing mismatched numbers between those who signed in to vote and the ballots actually cast. This irregularity occurred as recently as 2016 and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson assured that it was "not an indication that any votes were improperly cast or counted."

The numbers were off by around 300 votes. Biden won Wayne County by over 320 thousand votes.

One of the Board's Republican members—Monica Palmer—said she would be open to certifying results from districts in Wayne County that didn't include Detroit, which is around 80 percent Black. Nearby Livonia—a 90 percent white suburb—had a greater number of irregularities than Detroit.

After public outcry, accusations of political impetus, and a premature celebration from Trump, the Board returned and unanimously certified the county's results.

Trump erupted on Twitter, propping up the delusion that he won the state of Michigan and the (nonexistent) level of widespread fraud had mucked it beyond repair.

He said the state of Michigan should be switched to red.



Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN)—a frequent target of Trump's rhetoric—rebuked Trump with a brutal fact-check, while crediting her colleague and friend, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Tlaib represents Michigan's 13th Congressional District, which contains half of Detroit. Omar cited Tlaib's efforts to turn Michigan back to blue after Trump won the state in the 2016 election. Like the campaign that catapulted her to Congress, Tlaib harnessed the power of grassroots organization and interpersonal voter connection to help secure the state for Biden and down ballot Democrats.

Tlaib later retweeted Omar, adding her own response.

People applauded Omar's rebuke and joined calls for Trump to acknowledge he lost.







Omar wasn't the only one to roast Trump's misinformation.



Trump's last day in office will be January 20th.