the “red mirage” happens in every presidential-election cycle: Republicans tend to vote in person in greater numbers on Election Day, whereas Democrats increasingly vote early or absentee, so it is not unusual for states that count their Election Day votes first to show an early Republican lead that diminishes as mail-in votes are counted. “Happens every time,” Stirewalt said. But until Donald Trump, who falsely claimed that the red mirage proved the election had been rigged, no presidential candidate had ever lied about it.
