Donald Trump fact-checking the 2020 election during an interview with Joe Rogan

In a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan — a conversation that lasted even longer than one of Donald Trump's rally speeches — the former president repeated falsehoods about the outcome of the 2020 election.

The conversation took place less than two weeks before Election Day and ranged from claims about life on Mars to illegal immigration to his plan to impose tariffs on everyday goods.

Here we fact-check what Trump said about the 2020 election.

“I won that second election” in 2020.

Pants on fire!

Joe Biden earned his victory by winning more votes in the Electoral College. Biden received 306 electoral votes compared to Trump's 232. Biden's path to victory passed through the battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Although the popular vote does not decide who wins the presidential election, Biden received about 7 million more votes than Trump nationwide.

The results of the 2020 election were verified in several ways: States certified the results. Trump and his allies have lost more than 60 lawsuits. Congress accepted the results after the violent insurrection by Trump supporters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. A group of conservatives, including former federal judges, examined all allegations of fraud and miscounting made by Trump and his allies and concluded that they “missed it.” Submit evidence of fraud or inaccurate results significant enough to invalidate the results.”

Republicans in Trump's own administration, including his then-Attorney General Bill Barr, told Trump his statements about the “stolen” election were “bull—.” Republican election officials in states, including Georgia, said the election was safe and Biden won.

PolitiFact documented some examples of voter fraud in 2020, such as voting on behalf of deceased relatives. However, these events were not enough to change the outcome of the race.

States used “COVID to cheat” in the 2020 election.

Pants on fire!

Many states made voting easier during the pandemic by sending registered voters a ballot or an application to receive a ballot. Some states that previously required voters to provide an excuse to vote by mail have relaxed that rule.

Trump is free to disagree with these changes, but he is wrong – and this is ridiculous – when he calls them a fraud. These changes were made openly through orders, administrative actions or laws. And when a state expanded access to mail-in voting, it became available to Republican voters as well.

States “should seek legislative approval to do the things they do,” such as changing the rules for mail-in voting.

Various courts rejected a Trump argument in lawsuits over the 2020 election results, ruling that states do not have to set every election policy through the legislature; Instead, state officials can act independently if necessary. .

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, for example, sued four battleground states that went for Biden, saying their election procedures violated their state laws. In a one-sided ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, concluding that Texas had no business challenging the way other states conduct elections.

Experts said it was common to change election rules without passing laws.

“It is often the case that there are loopholes in election laws that state and local election officials routinely close according to their delegated authority,” said Rebecca Green, an election law professor at the College of William and Mary. “To say that all decisions about how elections are conducted must be made by the Legislature is inconsistent with expressly delegating authority to state election officials.”

Changes made without formal approval from state legislatures were made not only in Democratic or battleground states, but also by Republican officials in decidedly pro-Trump states.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum issued an executive order in March 2020 suspending the requirement that each county operate at least one in-person polling location for counties that have approved mail-in voting.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson issued an executive order allowing COVID-19 concerns as a valid excuse for absentee voting in the November 2020 election.

In the Paxton state, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added additional days of early voting for the general election, citing challenges posed by the pandemic.

After Hurricane Michael hit North Florida in October 2018, then-Gov. In his order, Rick Scott referenced emergency legislation repealing some rules related to mail-in ballots and in-person voting.

“If you look at Wisconsin, they have basically admitted that the election was rigged, robbed and stolen.”

Pants on fire!

Trump called for recounts in Wisconsin, but these confirmed Biden's victory; After the recount was completed, Biden received a net 74 votes. The state certified Biden's victory.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit seeking to ban mail-in ballot drop boxes, concluding that the issues were not “clearly stated.”

An investigation led by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who has aligned himself with Trump and spread his false claims, found no evidence that the election was called incorrectly.

The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty also found no evidence of widespread fraud. And state auditors found that the voting machines worked properly.

PolitiFact senior correspondent Amy Sherman contributed to this report.