Skip to content
Did Trump Say He Would ‘Go to Prison’ if Biden Were Elected?
Go to my account

Did Trump Say He Would ‘Go to Prison’ if Biden Were Elected?

No.

Viral social media posts claim that President Donald Trump recently said, “If you elect Joe Biden, I will go to prison.”

The August 12 Facebook post claims that Trump said this “today.” On that date, Trump gave remarks about school reopenings and held a coronavirus task force briefing. That quote could not be found in his remarks at either event and, furthermore, he did not tweet on August 12. In all, there is no record of Trump having uttered those words, and the author of the earliest iteration of the post admitted shortly after the Tweet went viral that it was satire: 

https://twitter.com/Baligubadle1/status/1290050430915866624

Trump has had plenty to say about what Biden will do if elected, but “If you elect Joe Biden, I will go to prison” is not one such thing. 

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 U.S. Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more.

Photo by Whitney Curtis/Getty Images.

Alec Dent is a former culture editor and staff writer for The Dispatch.

Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.