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Fast Take
Nationwide Guard troops have been activated throughout previous elections to help with cybersecurity, processing votes and potential protests. However social media posts have made the unsupported declare that former unbiased presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has known as for the Nationwide Guard “at each voting station and poll counting facility” on Election Day.
Full Story
Forward of Election Day in 2020, 16 states known as on National Guard members to help with election cybersecurity, processing votes and crowd management, in expectation of protests to the election final result. Nationwide Guard troops had additionally been used within the 2016 and 2018 elections, once they helped defend the election system from hackers.
In October, former President Donald Trump advocated the deployment of the Nationwide Guard or the U.S. navy on Election Day 2024 to handle what he described as “the enemy from inside” and “radical left lunatics.” Federal law prohibits the usage of the federal navy personnel as a home policing pressure, however the Nationwide Guard, beneath the command of state governors, is exempt.
Social media customers now have made the unsupported declare that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. additionally thinks the Nationwide Guard ought to be activated in each state on Election Day.
The declare was initially shared on X on Oct. 19, the place it obtained almost 700,000 views in line with the platform. The submit learn, “BREAKING: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says, The Nationwide Guard ought to be deployed at each voting station and poll counting facility to guard our elections.” The declare was posted on Threads by one other consumer on Oct. 20.
Kennedy had been an unbiased candidate for president, however he suspended his marketing campaign in August and endorsed Trump. In a speech to the Nationwide Guard Affiliation, Trump said, “We’re very proud to welcome Bobby to our trigger. He’s a extremely terrific man.” Trump’s marketing campaign later mentioned Kennedy had joined the previous president’s transition team.
However we haven’t been capable of finding any proof that Kennedy made the assertion within the social media posts or that he helps the deployment of Nationwide Guard troops to voting stations and ballot-counting facilities.
The consumer who initially shared the declare to X has a historical past of fabricating quotes from Kennedy. On Oct. 21, the consumer quoted Kennedy as saying, “The 2020 Election was 100% stolen from Donald Trump.” However Kennedy has acknowledged President Joe Biden because the reliable victor of the 2020 election.
In September, the same X account claimed that Kennedy known as for Satisfaction flags to be banned from authorities buildings. However we haven’t been capable of finding proof that Kennedy made this assertion, both. Up to now, Kennedy has been supportive of marriage equality. In June 2023, whereas he was nonetheless campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, he said, “There shall be no person within the Oval Workplace who’s extra supportive of LGBQT rights.”
We reached out to Kennedy for touch upon the social media posts, however we didn’t hear again.
Editor’s notice: FactCheck.org is one among a number of organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our earlier tales will be discovered here. Fb has no control over our editorial content material.
Sources
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Human Rights Marketing campaign. Press launch. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Joins Calls for Marriage Equality in New York and Nationwide.” 27 Jan 2011.
Kim, Soo Rin, et al. “Trump adds RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team.” ABC. 27 Aug 2024.
Marsh, Rene. “Ohio taps National Guard to defend election system from hackers.” CNN. 1 Nov 2016.
Mistich, Dave. “States Turn To National Guard To Protect Future Elections From Hackers.” NPR. 11 Apr 2018.
Mitchell, Ellen. “Here’s where the National Guard is activated on Election Day.” The Hill. 3 Nov 2020.
Nationwide Guard Bureau. “National Guard will support election in multiple states.” 2 Nov 2020.
Information Nation. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defends support of LGBTQ rights | RFK Jr. Town Hall.” Video. 29 Jun 2023.
Nunn, Joseph. “The Posse Comitatus Act Explained.” Brennan Middle for Justice. 14 Oct 2021.
Rev. “Trump Speaks at National Guard Conference in Detroit.” Transcript. 27 Aug 2024.
Stracqualursi, Veronica. “Trump suggests using military against ‘enemy from within’ on Election Day.” 14 Oct 2024.
Wells, Dylan, et al. “Where the 2024 candidates stand on elections, democracy and Jan. 6.” Washington Publish. 23 Aug 2023.
