WaPo's 'Find the Fraud' Trump Quote
■ The claim
Citing an anonymous source, the Post reported that Trump told a Georgia elections investigator to find the fraud and that she would be a national hero.
■ What actually happened
The January 9, 2021 story attributed both phrases to Trump in a December 2020 phone call. In March 2021, Georgia officials released a recording of the call. It showed Trump urging the investigator to look at Fulton County ballots, where he said she would find dishonesty, but he did not use the quoted words. The Post corrected the story and took the misquotes out of the headline and body.
■ The proof
The audio of the December 2020 call, released by Georgia's Secretary of State's office in March 2021, and the Post's own correction.
■ Original reporting
- Washington Post: Trump call to Georgia investigator (Jan. 9, 2021; now corrected)https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-call-georgia-investigator/2021/01/09/7a55c7fa-51cf-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html
■ Corrections, findings & records
- TheWrap: WaPo now says Trump never said 'find the fraud'https://www.thewrap.com/washington-post-donald-trump-find-the-fraud-correction/
- PolitiFact: What Trump told Georgia election officialshttps://politifact.com/article/2021/mar/16/what-trump-told-georgia-election-officials/
- VOA: Washington Post corrects misquote of Trump's December callhttps://www.voanews.com/usa/washington-post-corrects-misquote-about-trumps-december-call-georgia-election-official
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: Washington Post: Trump call to Georgia investigator (Jan. 9, 2021; now corrected)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-call-georgia-investigator/2021/01/09/7a55c7fa-51cf-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html
■ Grade
RETRACTED: The outlet itself retracted, corrected, or settled. How we grade →