Kill Notes is the Sunday feature where this publication takes five claims that moved the week and checks each one against the record, including the record of the person making it. The rule is the same each week: the claim in the claimant’s words, what turned up when it was checked, and what was true underneath. This week’s five come from the four days after Democrats took both chambers, and they share a shape I haven’t seen before. In each case the denial and the thing being denied were on the record at the same time, often from the same building, and the gap between them was measured in hours.
1. “I will if they’re honest.”
The claim. Asked on October 28, on the way to Texas to campaign for Ken Paxton, whether he would accept the midterm results, the president said “I will if they’re honest,” and reminded reporters that “I have a strong veto.” On election night, with the House and Senate gone, he said “Yes, sure I’ll accept them.”
What happened when it was checked. On Thursday, November 5, two days after accepting the results, he posted on Truth Social that the votes for “the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other ‘slug’” on the ballot “should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan,” that “the Election is over - He easily wins,” and that “There is no other fair solution!” This was his second run at the Alaska race. On October 28, the same day as “if they’re honest,” he had posted “ELECTION FRAUD. The Democrats cheated!” and said Mary Peltola “shouldn’t be allowed to run.”