Politics

FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Tweet That He Would ‘Leave The Country’ If Joe Biden Wins?

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An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a tweet from President Donald Trump reading, “If Biden somehow manages to win this election, you won’t see me again, I’ll simply leave the country!”

Verdict: False

While Trump appeared to joke about leaving the country if Biden won, there is no record of Trump sending or deleting this tweet.

Fact Check:

The image shows what appears to be a screen grab of a tweet from Trump’s verified Twitter account that says, “If Biden somehow manages to win this election, you won’t see me again, I’ll simply leave the country!”

“He won, so what’s taking you so long to leave?” the image’s caption reads. “Get lost and never come back Trump!”

The tweet, however, is fabricated. It does not appear on Trump’s verified Twitter accounts — @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS — nor does it appear on ProPublica’s archive of his deleted tweets. The screen grab of the alleged tweet does not show when the tweet was sent or the number of likes, retweets and comments garnered, further calling into question its authenticity.

While there is no evidence that Trump tweeted the message, he appeared to joke about leaving the country if Biden were to win the election during an October campaign rally in Georgia, Business Insider reported.

“Running against the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics puts pressure on me,” Trump told the crowd. “Could you imagine if I lose? My whole life, what am I going to do? I’m going to say ‘I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics.’ I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country? I don’t know.”

Biden was announced the projected winner of the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 7. The General Services Administration recently told Biden’s team that it is ready to formally begin the transition process, according to CBS News.