Trump warns of dirty tricks as misleading tactics escalate

Political deception, such as false reports on social media, rising on both sides during the 2024 election season

As voters in Iowa met on January 15 to participate in caucuses, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump took to social media to warn of political "dirty tricks."

"Be on the lookout for dirty tricks," Trump posted on Truth Social. "The Iowa Caucus is 100% on for Monday night, January 15th.... Don't listen to any dishonest RINOS [Republicans in name only] or Globalists that say otherwise!" At a rally on January 14, Trump implored elderly voters to risk their lives and health venturing out in a snowstorm to vote. "You can't sit home," he said. "If you're sick as a dog....even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it."

Trump backers such as his former Housing secretary, Ben Carson, issued similar warnings. Carson claimed his own campaign was hindered in Iowa eight years ago by false reports that he dropped out of the race early.

Critics countered that this was another round of a concept known as "Trump's mirror" in which he accuses others of doing what he is doing. Examples include Trump accusing Hillary Clinton's campaign of colluding with Russia and Ukraine in 2016, months before his campaign was accused of doing so in the face of more evidence.

Political analysts say that with the rise of artificial intelligence and increasing use of "fake news" on social media and platforms such as Newsmax and HuffPost, political dirty tricks in the form of false reports by campaigns and their supporters are escalating. Media platforms and social media forums need more regulation, while media literacy should be taught in schools, some said during a recent panel hosted by Columbia University.

Some disinformation reports can be serious, such as continued claims that Democrats "stole" the 2020 election through fraud that Republicans have never proven with real evidence in court. The claim led to violence on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters injured some 140 police officers and caused more than $2 million in damage by breaking into the U.S. Capitol.

Polls show that more than 60 percent of Republicans continue to believe in 2024 that the 2020 election was stolen, although the percentage of overall respondents thinking that was well less than 40 percent. "Don’t succumb to Corporate Media messaging," Steve Cortes, a GOP consultant who supported Ron DeSantis before switching to Trump, posted on Facebook in January 2024. "The 2020 election was stolen."

In Virginia, a recount showed that Joe Biden received 1,648 fewer votes than he should have, while Trump obtained 2,327 too many, posted Ed Krassenstein, an entrepreneur and social media personality who tends to favor Democratic candidates. "Trump lost case after case. He was told by his own lawyers that the widespread election fraud lies were fake," Krassenstein said. "He knows he lost yet he still pushes this lie."

If Democrats could steal elections, Hillary Clinton "would be wrapping up her second term right now and Donald Trump would be angling for a spot on Dancing with the Stars," posted retired Oregon radio broadcaster Martin Doerfler.

Biden and his backers can spread false reports, as well, including a 2023 statement that the president made claiming that more police officers were killed during domestic violence calls than others. PolitiFact is a Poynter Institute project that attempts to clear up the false statements.

Other fraudulent statements are more comical, such as Trump backer Nick Adams claiming in 2023 that Major League Baseball scouts believed Trump would have "been better than Babe Ruth." That embellishment was countered by reports that Trump's high school batting average was a measly .138. Biden also claimed to be a football star in high school, which was questioned as well.

A participant in a rally in Washington, D.C., holds a sign reading, "Demand Honesty Transparency Justice."Photo byKevin Shay

Dirty Tricks 'R' Us

Dirty tricks have long been a part of political campaigns.

In 1968, former President Richard Nixon worked to undermine peace negotiations between Lyndon Johnson’s administration and Vietnamese officials, using a Republican fundraiser and journalist, Anna Chennault. In 1980, William Casey, campaign manager for former President Ronald Reagan, reportedly traveled to Europe a few months before Election Day to urge Iranian officials to not release the 52 American diplomats and citizens being held until after Election Day.

Such chicanery is not just done by Republicans, of course. In 1960, a precinct in Angelina County in Texas recorded that only 86 people voted, but the final tally was 147–24 in favor of Democrat John F. Kennedy. Illinois special prosecutor Morris Wexler found “substantial” miscounts in Chicago due to voting machine errors and unqualified voters. The elder Kennedy was alleged to have brokered a deal with Sam Giancana and other Chicago mobsters to deliver thousands of votes.

Then shortly before the 2000 election, a Democratic operative in Maine released information on how former President George W. Bush had been arrested in that state for drunk driving in 1976.

More recently, Cameron Harris, a GOP aide to former Maryland Del. David Vogt, published a fake story on a web site in 2016 that claimed thousands of fraudulent ballots for Clinton were found in an Ohio warehouse. The article was read by millions and likely influenced the election results.

In 2020, Republican operatives in South Carolina and other states urged supporters to cross over to vote for Democrat Bernie Sanders, rather than Biden, in what became known as "Operation Chaos." The idea was to extend the Democratic primaries and make Biden's path more difficult. Some continue to do that on both sides in 2024, including Democrats changing their party affiliation before the January 23 New Hampshire primary.

In July 2023, a group called Advancing Our Values sent out flyers in Iowa thanking Trump for “standing up for LGBTQ rights” and calling Trump a “transgender trailblazer” for letting a transgender woman compete in a Miss Universe pageant in 2012.

Some wondered if the group was associated with Florida Gov. DeSantis, who finished a distant second behind Trump in Iowa. DeSantis has played up Trump's 2016 promise to “protect our LGBTQ citizens,” as he publicizes his state's new anti-LGBTQ laws.

In 2020, Republicans urged voters to cross over and vote for Democrat Bernie Sanders as a trick against Joe Biden in "Operation Chaos."Photo byFacebook / Public Domain

Official dirty tricks

In Arizona, abortion rights advocates working to put a measure on the November 2024 ballot have faced dirty tricks, aided in part by government officials, according to Amy Fitch-Heacock with Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom. She claimed she saw anti-abortion activists sign a petition with a false name and write outside of the lines to get that page of signatures disqualified by the state. In Arizona, if a single signature on a page of 15 is declared invalid, the entire page is discarded.

In Arkansas, Republican state Attorney General Tim Griffin rejected two drafts of an abortion proposal due to what some said was deceptive reasons. Griffin claimed words such as “access” and “health” were confusing and the ballot’s title contained "partisan coloring.” GOP officials in Missouri tried to rewrite a ballot measure to call abortions "dangerous and unregulated," which a court rejected as too partisan.

Republican counter that Democratic officials are performing dirty tricks by criminally indicting Trump and ruling that Trump is ineligible for the 2024 ballots in certain states. Trump has been indicted four times, while the latter tactic has so far worked in Colorado and Maine, where Trump officials are appealing the rulings.

Backers of Biden said the Republican campaign to impeach him in the U.S. House is an official dirty trick of its own.