The Commerce Department released a report on voter fraud in the 2020 election that contained false information.

What we found

Supports. CNN reports that the Census Bureau's report claiming over 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020 was released, and that its findings did not come close to proving the claim even if taken at face value.[5]

Supports. The Associated Press reported that the president's claim about the bureau's findings was false, noting that the methodology may have created false positives from linking a commercial voter file to federal records.[6]

Supports. Experts reviewing the report identified several fatal flaws, and Census Bureau officials said the career employees who would normally author it were sidelined, with no authors listed.[7]

Supports. Former Census Bureau leaders and statisticians said the unsigned report was unusual and flawed, and NPR reported it was not produced by Census staff and had ties to a Trump-aligned think tank.[8][9]

Context. The 2020-era sources (FactCheck.org, Reuters, AP, PolitiFact, Brennan Center) address the broader 2020 voter fraud allegations rather than this specific 2026 Commerce/Census report, so they provide background only.[1][2][3][4][10]

Context. The report's figures, if taken at face value, amount to under 0.02% of 2020 ballots, and it was described as a preliminary analysis, which leaves room for dispute over the exact nature of its errors.[8][11]

Sources

11 sources: 4 fact-checkers, 1 tier 2, 6 not rated

1. 1Nine Election Fraud Claims, None Crediblefactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: context
2. 2Trump's false claims debunked: the 2020 election and Jan. 6 riotreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
3. 3Far too little vote fraud to tip election to Trump, AP findsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
4. 4Trump's new 'evidence' that Biden lost in 2020 is ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
5. 5Trump’s Commerce Secretary under pressure to use his powers to block voting machines | CNN Politicscnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
6. 6Team Trump reportedly changes the Census Bureau's standards on political interferenceaol.com · not rated · cited for: supports
7. 7Trump Using Census Bureau Report Full of 'Junk Data ...commondreams.org · not rated · cited for: supports
8. 8Experts slam Trump's unusual new census report as a ' ...edition.cnn.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
9. 9They're Building The Excuse Now - Civil Discourse with Joyce Vancejoycevance.substack.com · not rated · cited for: supports
10. 10It's Official: The Election Was Securebrennancenter.org · not rated · cited for: context
11. 11Trump's Commerce Secretary under pressure to use his powers to block voting machinesus.cnn.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

• Platypus Economics with Justin Wolfers · Sep 10, 2026“The exception is the report on so-called voter fraud in the 2020 election. We made a video about that. I lived up to my promise to our audience, which is, I looked her in the eye and I said, "This is a lie. This is incoherent."”Post →

Related claims

• The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have conducted investigations into the 2020 election and voter fraud.True
• The Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the 2020 election and voter fraud.True
• There was no voter fraud that changed the 2020 election.True
• The 2020 election was fraudulent.False
• The Trump administration has sent the Department of Homeland Security to look for election fraud.True