Trump humiliation: US President in huge row over spreading ‘false claims’

It is the first time the social media platform has introduced fact checking, which has been requested for years as other sites like Facebook and Instagram have already introduced the software. Twitter’s first fact check was a Tuesday morning tweet by the president in which he claimed mail-in ballots are automatically “substantially fraudulent.” Mr Trump wrote: “There is no way (zero!) that mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.

“Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.

“The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one.

“That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote.

“This will be a rigged election.”

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After 10 hours of the post being online, Twitter added a link saying: “Get the fact about mail-in ballots.”

That link takes users to a separate page populated by news articles and tweets from journalists and experts refuting parts of the president’s claims.

The first item is a CNN article that calls the tweet an “unsubstantiated claim.”

Mr Trump has for years called the network “fake news” and accused it of being biased against him.

The decision comes after Timothy J. Klausutis asked the company to delete Mr Trump’s tweets about his late wife, whom local police ruled died after hitting her head on a desk when she passed out due to a heart condition that had not been diagnosed.

Trump has taken to Twitter in recent weeks to suggest former GOP Congressman Joe Scarborough was responsible for the death of Lori Klausutis, who worked in his Florida office while he was a congressman.

The conspiracy theory was first pushed by left-wing opponents of Mr Scarborough, but has been picked up by Mr Trump and many on the right because the MSNBC morning show host is a leading critic of the president.

Timothy J. Klausutis wrote to Twitter chief Jack Dorsey: “My request is simple: Please delete these tweets.

“I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the president of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him – the memory of my dead wife – and perverted it for perceived political gain.”

Trump has responded furiously to the social media giant, claiming they are stifling free speech.

He wrote: “Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election.

“They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post.

“Twitter is completely stifling free speech, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!”