No, the Pennsylvania Senate race wasn’t ‘rigged’
Stand up for the facts!
Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.
I would like to contribute
Pennsylvania Senate race wasn’t ‘rigged’
If Your Time is short
- This claim is baseless. Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman won the U.S. Senate race in the state, and his Republican challenger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, conceded the morning after Election Day.
Declaring an election rigged does not make it so.
A meme featuring President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen.-elect John Fetterman, D-Pa., suggests otherwise.
Speech bubbles added to an image of both men make it look like Fetterman’s saying, "I can’t believe people actually voted for me."
"They didn’t dumb ass," Biden replies. "Elections are rigged, geez."
An Instagram post sharing the meme was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Featured Fact-check
These, of course, are not real quotes, but we’re looking at the claim that Fetterman’s election was rigged.
There’s no evidence to support the claim.
According to unofficial election results as of Nov. 15, Fetterman won with 51.01% of the vote. His Republican challenger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, took 46.57%. Oz conceded the morning after Election Day.
We found no news reports or other credible sources suggesting evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania’s election. We did see plenty of fact-checks debunking misinformation about the election, including some of our own. One debunked claims that an election results map proves the election there was rigged, and another that Oz’s Instagram following, considerably larger than Fetterman’s, is proof the race was illegitimate.
It’s not, and claims that the Pennsylvania election was rigged are baseless. We rate this post Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram post, Nov. 14, 2022
Pennsylvania Department of State, Unofficial election results, visited Nov. 15, 2022
The Hill, Oz calls Fetterman to concede, Nov. 9, 2022
PolitiFact, Large social media followings don’t ensure election wins, Nov. 10, 2022
PolitiFact, Map does not prove Pennsylvania election was rigged, Nov. 10, 2022
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Ciara O'Rourke
Pennsylvania Senate race wasn’t ‘rigged’
Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.