Watch Trump's voter fraud lie get fact-checked in real time

In an appearance Thursday on MSNBC, Trump campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley attempted to promote disinformation about voter fraud, but he was immediately fact-checked with a statement by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

During the interview with reporter Hallie Jackson, Gidley claimed “people are finding ballots in trash cans, people are finding ballots in ditches and the backs of trucks” to prop up Donald Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud.

But reporter Jackson interrupted to remind him that Wray had made a statement undermining Gidley “within the last 12 hours …  on national television across every network.”

On Wednesday night, at a press conference on election security, Wray said claims doubting the integrity of the vote were false.

“You should be confident that your vote counts. Early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism,” he told reporters.

From the Oct. 22 edition of MSNBC’s “MSNBC Live”:

HALLIE JACKSON, MSNBC: Will the president back off on making those claims? Is that a conversation that you and the campaign are having with him?

 

HOGAN GIDLEY: You can’t deny what you’ve seen on television on all of these local markets, where people are finding ballots in trash cans, people are finding ballots in ditches and the backs of trucks—

 

JACKSON: There is no widespread evidence of voter fraud, Hogan, you know that. I don’t want to have to rehash this conversation. I’m asking if the president’s going to back off those claims. If you can’t answer that, that’s fine, we can move on, but just answer the question.

 

GIDLEY: I’m answering the question because the fact is it does occur. Listen, I received a ballot just the other day in my apartment, from someone who hasn’t lived there in ten years.

 

JACKSON: You’re spreading more information that is inaccurate, Hogan. There is not widespread evidence of voter fraud.

 

Okay, well we’re going to move on then. My other question is this: Before I let you go Hogan—

 

GIDLEY: Hallie, no, no, no, Hallie, don’t pretend like — your local markets, NBC affiliates are reporting on this in all types of areas across this country. This is rampant, everyone sees that.

 

JACKSON: Hogan. The FBI director said specifically, within the last twelve hours, said, on national television across every network, that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Somebody who is part of the Trump administration’s own intelligence expert field, Hogan, that’s not coming from me, that’s coming from Wray.

 

Does the president have confidence in his FBI director, yes or no?

 

GIDLEY: The president has confidence that the American people want a free and fair election. That’s what he’s been pushing for this entire time.

 

JACKSON: That’s not what I asked.

 

GIDLEY: That’s why he set up the federal government —

 

JACKSON: Do you have an answer to that question?

 

GIDLEY: — to work with the states to get interference out of our election cycle, it was Barack Obama and Joe Biden who knew Russia was going to interfere and did nothing.

 

JACKSON: Nope? Okay. I guess there’s no answer to that question then.

 

GIDLEY: This president pursued a whole of government approach.

 

JACKSON: Hogan Gidley, we’ll leave it there. Hogan, thank you, I appreciate you coming on.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.