Anti-Election Ideas Explode in X. This time he came from the left

While at the time of publication the Associated Press vote tally was actually 16 million votes lower than that of the 2020 election, the explanation is simple: The entire vote had not been filtered.

“Electoral denial is anti-democratic, whether it comes from the left or the right,” David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, wrote in X. “No, 20 million votes are not enough. Votes are still being counted in many states, including millions in CA alone. The number of votes in 2024 is very close to 2020, when all are reported”

Posts related to these conspiracy theories began to increase around 2 a.m. Eastern, PeakMetrics data shows, roughly coinciding with Trump’s election call—but even as Americans went to bed, the number of posts didn’t drop.

“By 8 a.m. ET, the number of posts per hour had risen to 31,991,” PeakMetrics wrote in an analysis shared with WIRED. “There was probably a surprising lack of drop in overnight posts from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. ET—when typically posts would drop as the US hits bedtime. The steady increase in posts on Kamala’s recount/absent-vote story within hours of one night may reflect the intensity of this conversation—or may point to fake or automated posting behavior.”

Unlike the 2020 election denial movement, which was fueled by Trump’s refusal to accept the results, these conspiracy theories did not gain support from the candidate. On Wednesday, Harris urged his supporters to accept the results and assured them that his party would “participate in a peaceful transition.”

The issue of left-wing or anti-Trump accounts posting conspiracy theories on social media, called BlueAnon, came to light earlier this year after the July assassination attempt on Trump.

“Any event that seems impossible will always invite conspiracy theories about what really happened,” says Mike Rothschild, an author who writes about conspiracy theories and religious fanatics. “In this case, it is a false story that tens of millions of votes were lost and that Russian bomb threats destroyed the Harris campaign. And it’s not true — turnout appears to be low, and many states, including California, are still counting. And while bomb threats are totally unacceptable, that’s not the reason why the Harris campaign is losing all the momentum. To chalk up Trump’s victory to conspiracy theories is not to live in reality. “