Bernie Sanders' eerie prediction weeks before US election
Almost two weeks before the US election, former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made an eerily accurate prediction about how the night would unfold.
Speaking with Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show on October 23, Sanders gave his take on what would likely go down after America voted and how Donald Trump would react.
Sanders explained Democrats were more likely to use mail-in ballots, compared to Republicans, who are more likely to go out and vote at the polls on Election Day.
“It is likely that the first votes that will be counted will be those people who came in on Election Day, which will be Republican,” Sanders told Fallon.
“Here is the fear, and I hope everybody hears it: I don’t know what’s going to happen; nobody does.
“But it could well be that at 10 on election night, Trump is winning in Michigan, he’s winning in Pennsylvania, he’s winning in Wisconsin, and he gets on the television and he says, ‘Thank you, Americans, for electing me! It’s all over, have a good day!’”
LIVE BLOG: US Election live updates as they happen
In the early hours of Wednesday morning (local time) at the White House, Trump made a number of startling statements.
“Frankly, we did win this election," Trump declared, before several states were declared for either him or Biden.
However, Sanders speculated how the mail-in ballots could swing the election in Biden’s favour.
“Then the next day and the day following, all of those mail-in ballots start getting counted, and it turns out that Biden has won those states,” Sanders continued on The Tonight Show.
“At which point Trump says, ‘See? I told you the whole thing was fraudulent! I told you all those mail-in ballots were crooked, and we’re not gonna leave office!’
“So that is a worry that I and a lot of people have.”
The video of Sanders’ conversation with Fallon went viral, as many of his predictions came true.
During Trump’s speech at the White House on Wednesday morning, he accused the Democrats of postponing or tampering with the voter results, claiming a "fraud on the American nation" had been committed.
The votes are continuing to trickle in and Biden is gaining momentum over Trump.
Biden has won Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press, two states Trump said he was “winning”.
Trump’s tweets censored due to inaccuracy
Several of Trump’s tweets have been censored by Twitter, because they are blatantly false.
“We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead,” Trump tweeted.
“Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact, there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!”
We have claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact,.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2020
“Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process,” Twitter warned in response to Trump’s tweet.
At 12.30pm AEDT on Thursday, the Associated Press projected Biden would win 264 votes. He was also projected to win Nevada, edging him closer to the 270 needed for victory.
Trump has already filed lawsuits on Wednesday (local time) in Pennsylvania and Michigan, laying the groundwork for contesting the outcome in states that could determine whether he gets another four years in the White House.
Trump’s 2012 tweet about recounting votes backfires
One of Trump’s old tweets from 2012 have come back to bite him as he demanded votes be recounted in Wisconsin.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien cited “irregularities in several Wisconsin counties”, without providing specifics, announcing the president’s campaign would ask for a recount in the state.
“Despite ridiculous public polling used as a voter suppression tactic, Wisconsin has been a razor thin race as we always knew that it would be,” the statement said.
“There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results.
“The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”
In light of this, a tweet Trump made in 2012 about the then incumbent Barrack Obama is resurfacing.
We don’t want to have a recount in any of the battleground states. Obama will steal it. Make sure all your friends and family vote.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2012
“We don’t want to have a recount in any of the battleground states,” Trump tweeted.
“Obama will steal it. Make sure all your friends and family vote.”
Now people are commenting on the old tweet, many quite content with how the tweet has aged.
“The way your own tweets bounce back and smack you directly in the face is beautiful,” someone said.
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