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Viral claim CBS News accused Donald Trump of cheating is baseless | Fact check
The claim: CBS News accused Trump of cheating to win the 2024 election
A Nov. 6 post on X, formerly Twitter (direct link, archive link) includes side-by-side images of the CBS News logo and President-elect Donald Trump.
“CBS News is currently accusing Donald Trump of cheating his victory over the 2024 Presidential Election (sic),” reads the start of the post.
It was reposted more than 12,000 times in two days. Another version of the claim was shared on Facebook.
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Our rating: False
There is no evidence CBS News made any such accusation, and a spokesperson for the network said the claim is false.
CBS reported on Trump's baseless claim of cheating in Philadelphia
The claim came after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, sweeping swing states and surpassing the necessary 270 electoral votes as of early Nov. 6, based on Associated Press projections. He was also on track to win the popular vote, which would be the first time a Republican presidential nominee has done so since George W. Bush in 2004, as USA TODAY reported.
But there's nothing supporting the claim that CBS News accused the president-elect of cheating on its website or X accounts. There are also no news releases from the network that make the accusation, and the network said the claim is false.
“CBS News did not report or say that Trump cheated in our coverage,” CBS News spokesperson Hugo Rojo told USA TODAY.
The X account that posted the claim, @PopFusionHQ, offered no links or evidence to support it and did not respond when contacted by USA TODAY.
The outlet did report on Trump’s baseless claim of “massive cheating” in Philadelphia on Election Day. City officials emphasized the security of the election and said there was no evidence to support Trump’s assertion.
CBS News also reposted an article by TVNewser, a blog that analyzes television news, that included comments from its senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe on the integrity of the election.
“But, more than anything, we should marvel and appreciate that tens of millions of votes were cast and counted so efficiently and peacefully,” O’Keefe told the outlet. “We remain a model for the world.”
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Trump accused CBS of “deceitful” editing of its October interview with Harris in a lawsuit filed against the network. CBS said Trump’s claims were “completely without merit.”
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to election fraud, including false assertions that presidential election results aired during a Formula 1 race were evidence of “cheating” and that expected delays results in several swing states were evidence of voter fraud.
Our fact-check sources:
Paramount, accessed Nov. 8, Releases
CBS News, accessed Nov. 7, Website search
CBS News, accessed Nov. 7, X account
CBS News PR, accessed Nov. 7, X account
Hugo Rojo, Nov. 7, Email exchange with USA TODAY
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This story was updated to correct a typo.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No evidence backs claim CBS accused Trump of cheating | Fact check