The Supreme Court stops Donald Trump changing voting rules... for now
Americast, Checked
Polygraph score68Mostly holdsDetailsHide
68Mostly holds
- What it claims
- 5 false5 mixed19 true
- How it argues
- Nothing found
- How it persuades
- Nothing found
- What it’s built on
- DistrustWhataboutism
AmericastSep 16, 2026
AmericastThe Supreme Court stops Donald Trump changing voting rules... for nowWhole episode, 29:12
What it claims
Claims
- 1MixedThe US Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's plans to end the right for all Americans to vote by mail in elections.The Supreme Court did block the Trump administration's Postal Service mail-ballot rule on September 14, 2026, so the core assertion holds as of the claim date. However, most sources describe the plan as restricting or changing mail voting, not ending the right for all Americans; only the BBC uses the 'end the right' framing. The claim also omits that the Court allowed other parts of the March executive order to proceed in an earlier August ruling.8 sources →
- 2FalseThe US Supreme Court blocked an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by mail.The Supreme Court did not block Trump's March 2026 executive order; on August 24, 2026 it lifted a lower-court injunction, allowing key parts to proceed, and the order did not end the right of US citizens to vote by mail. As of 2026-09-16, a separate nationwide injunction still blocked the Postal Service from implementing its mail-ballot procedures. The claim also appears to be extracted from the BBC's characterization of the order as ending mail voting, which the Reuters, AP, CNBC and NPR reporting does not support.7 sources →
- 3MixedDonald Trump signed an executive order in March 2026 that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by mail in elections.Sources confirm Trump signed a March 31, 2026 executive order restricting mail-in voting, but the order restricts and tightens mail voting and does not end the right of all US citizens to vote by mail; the claim's 'ended the right' framing and 'vote by mail' scope overstate the record. The claimant's passage says 'email,' which is an extraction/transcription difference; the claim as extracted ('vote by mail') matches the BBC wording, and the BBC's own 'ended the right' phrasing is an overstatement that the other sources do not support, while the Supreme Court and district court blocked implementation.8 sources →
- 4FalseIn March 2026, the president signed an executive order that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by mail.The order signed March 31, 2026 (EO 14399) restricts mail-in voting: it limits absentee ballots to approved state lists and mandates USPS barcoded envelopes. Primary sources and wire reports describe it as tightening or restricting mail voting, not ending the right for all citizens. The passage said 'email', which the extraction corrected to 'mail'; the claim as extracted still overstates the order's effect.7 sources →
- 5FalsePresident Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2026 that ended the right for all US citizens to vote by email.Trump did sign a March 31, 2026 executive order on mail-in voting, but the sources describe it as tightening and restricting mail ballots, not ending anyone's right to vote by mail. Courts have blocked its implementation, and the BBC item's own wording describes 'plans' to end the right that the Supreme Court stopped. The extracted claim also says 'email' where the passage and all sources say 'mail'.5 sources →
- 6TrueCases of electoral fraud are rare.As extracted, the claim that electoral fraud cases are rare is supported by numerous tier1 and tier2 sources (AP, Reuters, Brookings, BBC, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact, The Hill, NPR) that consistently find documented fraud is exceedingly rare, with the AP finding fewer than 475 potentially fraudulent ballots across six battleground states in 2020. The extraction faithfully reflects the passage's 'despite cases of fraud being rare' qualifier, and the rarity finding was still well documented as of 2026-09-16 per the 2026 Snopes and Washington Post pieces, which describe rare but real cases (e.g., 180 noncitizen cases) without contradicting rarity.8 sources →
- 7TrueFBI Director Kash Patel has not ruled out sending FBI agents to election polling sites in November.The claim is supported as of 2026-09-16: AP reports that Patel, at the September 15 Senate Judiciary hearing, did not rule out sending agents to polling places on Election Day, and later coverage describes the same refusal to rule it out. The extraction matches the passage's wording. A Yahoo piece claiming Patel 'all but confirmed' deployments overstates the record and is not relied on, and the later October DOJ declaration that it would not deploy FBI agents as monitors postdates the claim and does not change the September verdict.6 sources →
- 8TrueThe Supreme Court issued a decision blocking the Trump administration's proposed restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections.Multiple tier1 sources (AP, Reuters, BBC) and the Court's own order report that on September 14, 2026 (Monday) the Supreme Court denied the Trump administration's application to lift an injunction blocking the USPS mail-ballot rule, a decision that kept restrictions from taking effect for the midterms, matching the claim as of 2026-09-16. The extracted wording 'blocking his restrictions' is a fair paraphrase; the Court did not itself block a proposed rule, but it left a lower-court block in place, which is the substance of the claim. Sources note the ruling is interim and litigation continues.7 sources →
- 9TrueThree of the current Supreme Court justices were appointed by Donald Trump.Sources confirm that Donald Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his presidency: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.4 sources →
- 10TrueThe Trump administration proposed that states send lists of voters to the postal service and that each postal ballot have a unique barcode stamped on the envelope.As of 2026-09-16, multiple sources confirm the Trump administration's March executive order and the USPS proposed rule (published June 2, 2026) required states to supply voter lists to USPS and required unique barcodes on ballot envelopes, with USPS delivering only to listed voters. The claim's extraction faithfully reflects the passage's core content; the Supreme Court later blocked the effort (September 2026), which does not make the 'proposal' claim false as of the claim date.7 sources →
- 11TrueThe US Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's guidelines to end mail-in voting for the upcoming midterm elections.The Supreme Court on September 14, 2026 declined to let the USPS enforce the Trump administration's mail-voting rule, leaving in place a block on it for the midterms, so the claim was true as of 2026-09-16. Later developments (a district judge lifting the injunction on August 26 pre-dated this, and the Court's ruling was described as leaving legality undecided) do not change the state of affairs on the claim's date, though the injunction's status and later litigation remain open.8 sources →
- 12TrueThe Supreme Court decision to block the Trump administration's mail-in voting guidelines was a 7 to 2 vote.Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources (NBC News, Reuters, CNN-affiliated and wire-based coverage) report the Supreme Court's September 14, 2026 emergency order blocking the Trump administration's USPS mail-in ballot rule was a 7-2 vote, with Justices Thomas and Alito dissenting. The claim's figure and scope match the sources, though the claim refers to the emergency order blocking a Postal Service regulation rather than a broader 'guidelines' decision, which is a minor phrasing difference.7 sources →
- 13TrueDonald Trump claims that non-U.S. citizens are registered to vote and use postal votes to cast ballots in elections.The claim is about Trump making these assertions, and several tier1 sources confirm he repeatedly claimed noncitizens are on voter rolls and that mail ballots enable fraud, including in July 2026 remarks. The sources also state that these claims are unsubstantiated and that evidence of such fraud is extremely rare, so the claim is accurate as to what Trump said but not as to what the evidence shows.5 sources →
- 14MixedThe number of non-citizens found on voter rolls in states that have announced findings is in the hundreds or low thousands, representing less than 0.1% of the electorate.The claim holds for several audits and reviews that report hundreds or fewer noncitizens below 0.1% of registered voters, such as Utah (27, about .001%), Georgia (407 possible over 30 years), and Washington (400). It fails for the larger announced figures: New Jersey's 6,600, California's 20,000 and the DHS four-state figures of tens of thousands to 190,832, which were disputed and in Nevada's case reduced to 185. The claim is judged as extracted, covering all states that announced findings as of 2026-09-16.9 sources →
- 15MixedThe SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo identification for voters in federal elections.The proof-of-citizenship element is supported: the 2025 SAVE Act (H.R.22) requires documentary proof of citizenship to register, and the 2026 SAVE America Act does too. The photo-ID element is supported only by the SAVE America Act, which FactCheck.org says adds photo ID 'unlike last year's SAVE Act,' so the claim's 'SAVE Act' label fits the newer bill (the one the speaker means) but not H.R.22. As of 2026-09-16 both bills were House-passed and not law.6 sources →
- 16TrueDonald Trump used a mail-in ballot in a Florida special election a few weeks prior to.Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources, including Palm Beach County voting records reported by Snopes, Politico, and NBC, confirm Trump cast a mail-in ballot in Florida's March 2026 special election for House District 87, which he later confirmed himself. The claim's phrase 'a few weeks prior to' is a loose timeframe; the claim as extracted is consistent with the passage, and sources also report a later August 2026 Florida primary mail ballot, which does not contradict the claim.9 sources →
- 17TrueStates including California, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Colorado conduct almost all elections by mail.The sources support the claim: MIT Election Lab, NCSL, and Wikipedia list California, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington as states that conduct all elections by mail, and FactCheck.org reports that 80% or more of California votes are typically cast by mail. The claim as extracted matches the speaker's passage, and the sources show these states were in this position as of 2026-09-16.5 sources →
- 18TrueThe Trump administration has spent the 18 months prior to September 2026 investigating mail-in voting for evidence of fraud.The sources show the Trump administration has spent roughly the past 18 months actively investigating alleged voter fraud, including mail voting and noncitizen voting, with DOJ and DHS probes and a 'Unlawful Voter Initiative' (sources 6, 7, 9, 10, 11). The claim's framing that this was an effort to find evidence of fraud is supported, though sources also report that the investigations have found little evidence, which is context rather than contradiction of the investigating itself; the claim is a faithful paraphrase of the speaker's 'close look' and 'trying to find some evidence' wording.8 sources →
- 19TrueSenator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska stated she would not support the Save Act.Multiple tier1 sources (The Hill, NBC News, Reuters, PolitiFact) and Murkowski's own statements confirm she publicly opposed the SAVE Act, saying 'I do not support these efforts' and 'I cannot support the so-called SAVE Act as it's written.' The extracted claim is slightly looser than the passage, which said she was 'not going to support' the bill, but the substance matches and is supported.5 sources →
- 20FalseThe Supreme Court ruled that no president could be found criminally liable for anything they did while carrying out their duties as president.The claim overstates the holding in Trump v. United States: the sources show the Court granted presidents absolute immunity only for core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for other official acts, not blanket immunity for anything done in carrying out duties. The Court also held there is no immunity for unofficial acts, and the claimant's passage ('no president could be found criminally liable for anything') is a widened scope relative to the sources.6 sources →
- 21TrueThe Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's trade tariffs on the grounds that he used the wrong rules to implement them.The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling on February 20, 2026 held that IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs, striking down his IEEPA-based tariffs on statutory-authority grounds, which matches the claim's 'wrong rules' framing. The ruling did not strike down all of his tariffs: sources note that Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and similar goods were unaffected, so the claim's unqualified 'trade tariffs' is an overstatement of scope.7 sources →
- 22TrueBarack Obama criticized the Supreme Court during a State of the Union address regarding the Citizens United decision.Multiple independent sources (PolitiFact, Politico, ABC News, JURIST, CNN) confirm that in his January 2010 State of the Union address Obama publicly criticized the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, saying it would open the floodgates for special interests and foreign corporations to spend without limit in elections. The passage's details (a justice in the audience, Alito shaking his head) are consistent with the claim, though the claim's core assertion is the criticism itself, which is confirmed.7 sources →
- 23TrueTodd Blanch is the Attorney General for the Trump administration.As of 2026-09-16, Todd Blanche held the office of U.S. Attorney General for the Trump administration: the Senate confirmed him 50-49 on August 8, 2026 (Grassley and Schiff statements, Euronews/AP) and the DOJ profile says he was sworn in on August 10, 2026, with AP's October 2026 coverage still calling him Attorney General. The claim's wording matches the passage's 'his attorney general' reference and the claim asserts only a present officeholder status, which was accurate on the stated date.7 sources →
- 24MixedFBI Director Kash Patel testified before the Senate that FBI agents would be present at polling places in November 2026.The sources do not support a flat statement that Patel testified FBI agents would be at polling places. Tier-1 reporting (AP) and a primary congressional press release say he refused to rule out deployments and only suggested agents might be dispatched, with a conditional answer ('if there's a reason... we will, otherwise we won't'). Lower-credibility outlets (Yahoo, New Republic) say he 'all but confirmed' presence, but their own quoted language is conditional and refers to field offices.6 sources →
- 25TruePresident Donald Trump claims that the only way Democrats can win in 2026 is if they cheat.As of 2026-09-16, Trump had repeatedly said Democrats can only win by cheating, and multiple sources (NPR in March 2026, the State of the Union remarks, and Reuters/USA Today reporting that he 'regularly accused Democrats of cheating to win elections') document this assertion. The extracted claim is a faithful paraphrase of the passage's 'the only way Democrats can win in 2026 is if they cheat,' with the attribution to Trump supported by direct quotations and the 'only way' framing matching his stated words, though the sources note he provided no evidence.8 sources →
- 26FalseDonald Trump took steps leading up to January 6th that disrupted the counting and certification of the 2024 election results.As extracted, the claim says Trump's pre-January 6 steps disrupted the counting and certification of the 2024 election. Tier1 and tier2 sources report that the January 6, 2025 certification proceeded without any objection or disruption, so the claim is contradicted. The passage's reference to disruption points to the January 6, 2021 riot over the 2020 election, which the extraction moved to 2024.7 sources →
- 27TrueDonald Trump signed an executive order in March that directed the Post Office and other government departments to create a plan to secure mail-in balloting.Multiple tier1 and primary sources (Reuters, AP, White House fact sheet, Executive Order 14399 text) confirm Trump signed a March 31, 2026 executive order directing USPS and DHS/SSA to implement mail-in ballot restrictions and citizenship verification, matching the claim's core assertion. The claim's phrasing 'create a plan to secure mail-in balloting' is a loose but accurate summary of the directive to the Postmaster General to initiate rulemaking on secure ballot envelopes and tracking barcodes.9 sources →
- 28TrueThe FBI has election crimes coordinators in all 56 field offices.Multiple primary FBI and DOJ sources state that each of the FBI's 56 field offices has designated Election Crimes Coordinators, and FBI Director Patel said the same in a September 2026 hearing, so the claim held as of 2026-09-16. The claim's wording is a faithful extraction of the passage, and no source contradicts it.5 sources →
- 29TrueAl Franken was seated in the US Senate after a long legal challenge against Senator Norm Coleman during Barack Obama's first presidential term.Sources confirm Al Franken was seated in the US Senate on July 7, 2009, after an roughly eight-month legal contest with Norm Coleman that ended with the Minnesota Supreme Court's June 30, 2009 ruling, both within Obama's first term. The claim says the challenge was 'against' Coleman, whereas Coleman was the one who brought the challenge to Franken's win; this is a loose phrasing of the contest, not a substantive error, and the extraction otherwise matches the passage's core assertion.7 sources →
What it’s built on
- Whataboutism · previous administrationAnswers a criticism by pointing at someone else
isn't that right that this is completely unprecedented? Because I remember Barack Obama having a go at the Supreme Court? Justices that were sat right there in front of him
- DistrustCalls elections illegitimate
these are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court
merely a shell of their original selves
shockingly bad rulings
It is a court that will go down as having rendered some of the most destructive, hurtful and damaging decisions in our country's history
I pledge unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies
Sources
Fact-checkers 38Primary records 26Most reliable outlets 7Reliable outlets 29Less reliable outlets 1Unrated 71
- reuters.comFact-checker · 16 pages · claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 29
- apnews.comFact-checker · 12 pages · claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
- factcheck.orgFact-checker · 5 pages · claims 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 25, 26
- snopes.comFact-checker · 5 pages · claims 6, 9, 13, 15, 16
- politifact.comFact-checker · 2 pages · claims 22, 26
- congress.govPrimary record · 3 pages · claims 15, 20, 21
- justice.govPrimary record · 3 pages · claims 20, 23, 28
- govinfo.govPrimary record · 2 pages · claims 4, 27
- whitehouse.govPrimary record · 2 pages · claims 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 27
- brookings.eduPrimary record · claim 6
- dhs.govPrimary record · claim 14
- docs.house.govPrimary record · claim 14
- electionlab.mit.eduPrimary record · claim 17
- fbi.govPrimary record · claim 28
- judiciary.senate.govPrimary record · claim 23
- krishnamoorthi.house.govPrimary record · claims 7, 24
- law.cornell.eduPrimary record · claim 20
- murkowski.senate.govPrimary record · claim 19
- newhouse.house.govPrimary record · claim 15
- obamawhitehouse.archives.govPrimary record · claim 22
- oversight.govPrimary record · claim 28
- padilla.senate.govPrimary record · claim 10
- senate.govPrimary record · claim 29
- supremecourt.govPrimary record · claim 20
- warnock.senate.govPrimary record · claim 10
- bbc.comMost reliable · 4 pages · claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 18, 20
- thehill.comMost reliable · 2 pages · claims 6, 19
- bbc.co.ukMost reliable · claim 13
- npr.orgReliable · 7 pages · claims 1, 4, 6, 11, 21, 25, 26
- nbcnews.comReliable · 5 pages · claims 12, 16, 19, 21, 26
- cnn.comReliable · 3 pages · claims 3, 14, 22
- nytimes.comReliable · 3 pages · claims 1, 8, 27
- politico.comReliable · 3 pages · claims 16, 22, 29
- pbs.orgReliable · 2 pages · claims 18, 24
- propublica.orgReliable · 2 pages · claims 11, 27
- cbsnews.comReliable · claim 18
- reason.comReliable · claim 13
- theatlantic.comReliable · claim 27
- washingtonpost.comReliable · claim 6
- rawstory.comLess reliable · claim 19
- usatoday.comUnrated · 4 pages · claims 10, 16, 25, 27
- abcnews.comUnrated · 3 pages · claims 1, 2, 10, 22
- cnbc.comUnrated · 3 pages · claims 2, 8, 11, 26
- newsweek.comUnrated · 3 pages · claims 1, 7, 11, 17
- rmb.reuters.comUnrated · 3 pages · claims 12, 16, 25
- kpbs.orgUnrated · 2 pages · claims 14, 25
- theconversation.comUnrated · 2 pages · claims 4, 11
- thedailystar.netUnrated · 2 pages · claims 18, 21
- votebeat.orgUnrated · 2 pages · claims 7, 8
- washingtonexaminer.comUnrated · 2 pages · claims 3, 16
- yahoo.comUnrated · 2 pages · claims 7, 24, 25
- adn.comUnrated · claim 23
- afj.orgUnrated · claim 9
- api.politifact.comUnrated · claim 16
- ballotpedia.orgUnrated · claim 9
- bnd.comUnrated · claim 12
- bpr.orgUnrated · claim 2
- capitolnewsillinois.comUnrated · claim 12
- caselaw.findlaw.comUnrated · claim 29
- christinapagel.substack.comUnrated · claim 18
- courtlistener.comUnrated · claim 29
- democracydocket.comUnrated · claim 18
- edition.cnn.comUnrated · claim 14
- en.ara.catUnrated · claim 23
- en.wikipedia.orgUnrated · claim 17
- esquire.comUnrated · claim 3
- euronews.comUnrated · claim 23
- factcheck.afp.comUnrated · claim 13
- fidelity.comUnrated · claim 21
- goodmorningamerica.comUnrated · claim 8
- govexec.comUnrated · claim 7
- greenvilleonline.comUnrated · claim 18
- harvardmagazine.comUnrated · claim 29
- inquirer.comUnrated · claim 28
- jacksonville.comUnrated · claim 16
- jurist.orgUnrated · claim 22
- krgv.comUnrated · claim 11
- ms.nowUnrated · claim 22
- ncsl.orgUnrated · claim 17
- newrepublic.comUnrated · claim 24
- newsfromthestates.comUnrated · claim 24
- newsobserver.comUnrated · claim 2
- nprillinois.orgUnrated · claim 25
- opb.orgUnrated · claim 14
- rollcall.comUnrated · claim 29
- scotusblog.comUnrated · claim 1
- statesmanjournal.comUnrated · claim 12
- thecentersquare.comUnrated · claim 9
- thedp.comUnrated · claim 27
- upi.comUnrated · claim 12
- wbaltv.comUnrated · claim 23
- wired.comUnrated · claim 11