The Supreme Court will put Donald Trump back in office in October
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The U.S. Supreme Court building is shown May 4, 2022 in Washington. (AP)
U.S Supreme Court is not going to put Trump back in office
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Donald Trump can run for president again in 2024. But social media posts suggesting he has been or is about to be reinstated are wrong.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up an election law case pertaining to the powers of state legislatures. A ruling is expected next summer that could affect future elections, but not results from 2020.
A TikTok post announcing "Trump return news" suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court will put former President Donald Trump back in office soon — but that’s bogus.
"There is this crazy news happening right now about a possible Trump return whenever the Supreme Court gets back from recess," the speaker says on a TikTok post shared on Facebook. "When they come back, they are going to actually take up a case about election law, particularly about the power of the courts versus the legislature in each state."
The speaker in the TikTok video concludes by referencing one of Trump’s posts on Truth Social and says that "the Supreme Court is going put him back into the office of presidency in October."
The TikTok distorts some news developments by suggesting they add up to Trump returning to the presidency in October. They don’t. Trump can run for president again in 2024, but the court isn’t going to reinstall Trump. The post is another one of many wrongly suggesting Trump will be or has been reinstated.
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The election law case referenced in the TikTok is Moore v. Harper, which concerns the "independent state legislature" theory. In North Carolina, the state Supreme Court threw out the state Legislature’s map for a congressional district. Republican politicians appealed and argued that it was up to the legislature, not the courts, to review redistricting. The Supreme Court agreed to take up the case in June and is expected to rule by next summer. The TikTok highlights an NPR story about the case.
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Election law experts warn that the case’s outcome could open the door to state legislatures subverting election results. But the warning is about future elections, not Trump’s 2020 loss. No matter how the Supreme Court rules, it won’t result in Trump being reinstalled as president.
The Truth Social post by Trump referenced in the TikTok was written on his social media platform after Liz Cheney lost the House primary in Wyoming. Trump repeated the falsehood that the 2020 election was "rigged and stolen," but he didn’t say the Supreme Court was sending him back to the White House in October.
Our ruling
A TikTok video on Facebook suggests the Supreme Court will put Donald Trump back in office in October.
The TikTok references an election law case the court has agreed to take up pertaining to the powers of state legislatures. A ruling is not expected until next summer.
While Trump can run for election in 2024, the Supreme Court can’t just place him back in the White House.
We rate this statement Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Facebook post, Aug. 18, 2022
Slate, It’s Hard to Overstate the Danger of the Voting Case the Supreme Court Just Agreed to Hear, June 30, 2022
Brennan Center for Justice, Moore v. Harper, Explained, Aug. 4, 2022
NPR, Supreme Court to take on controversial case about election law case, June 30, 2022
Donald Trump, Truth Social post, Aug. 15, 2022
USA Today, Fact check: False claim persists online that Trump will be reinstated as president in August, July 23, 2021
PolitiFact, No, Trump has not been reinstated, Oct. 26, 2021
PolitiFact, Steve Scalise’s flawed argument that states didn’t follow their own election laws, Oct. 15, 2021
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U.S Supreme Court is not going to put Trump back in office
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