Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) fact-checked more of Donald Trump’s lies this week after he posted on his alternative social media site Truth Social about Ruby Freeman, a Georgia woman who helped as an election worker in 2020 and subsequently became the target of conspiracy theories alleging she was involved in some kind of imaginary fraud.
Trump shared a series of audio clips ostensibly featuring comments from Freeman and at least a couple local officers in Georgia, with captions playing on the screen, but the captions don’t even seem all that great. At one point, the captions allege an officer suggested there was potentially a “cover-up.” The quality of the audio makes it unclear what they actually said, and even if they did say that, there is no apparent proof in any of the clips of anything specific. It’s just more deflection. “Ruby Freeman is a patriot,” Schiff said. “A public servant who volunteered her time to help bolster and safeguard our democracy. Donald Trump’s continued attacks on her are false, disgusting, and dangerous. I’d say he should be ashamed, but we all know he doesn’t care.”
Freeman and her daughter who was also an elections worker in 2020 faced threats to their safety as Trump and allies of his used them in conspiracy theories about the 2020 elections. In the clips Trump shared, much of the time is taken up by Freeman describing some of the routine process of handling an election’s votes. She’s insistent on getting a lawyer, but who wouldn’t be if facing those kinds of deceptive accusations and serious threats?
“Don’t forget that Ruby Freeman, her daughter, and all others were rushed out of the voter count room in Georgia because of a big “WATER MAIN BREAK,”” Trump said this Wednesday. “Like everything else, it was FAKE, there was no water main break. Ruby’s group (only) soon came back into the room, with no security or vote watchers, grabbed the thousands and thousands of ballots hidden under a cloth skirted table, and began putting them into (STUFFING) the machines, all caught on tape, and so OBVIOUSLY WRONG. They can’t explain!” Does he think that they planned out a plot to steal a presidential election and forgot to check on the security cams? He can describe normal processes in however dramatic terms he wants — but that doesn’t change the basic facts of what went on.
A PolitiFact article from early 2021 notes that personnel helping secure the process remained physically present as the period of counting that Trump singled out moved forward. It was also much earlier in the day when there were issues attributed in some accounts to a pipe leak — and the ballots ostensibly hidden beneath a table were actually absentee votes already opened and subjected to signature verification also in the presence of at least some form of observer. They weren’t “stuffing” the machines. They were just scanning ballots.
Ruby Freeman is a patriot.
A public servant who volunteered her time to help bolster and safeguard our democracy.
Donald Trump’s continued attacks on her are false, disgusting, and dangerous.
I’d say he should be ashamed, but we all know he doesn’t care.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 4, 2023
