Did dozens of Pennsylvania election workers say then-Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar ordered them to destroy more than 100,000 Trump ballots in the 2020 election?
False
The photo is a genuine 2020 image of Philadelphia ballot counting, but the caption's claim that dozens of Pennsylvania election workers have exposed an ordered scheme to destroy Trump ballots is a fabricated story debunked by Lead Stories. Biden's 2020 Pennsylvania win stands, so the post's 'proof' is false.
GenuineClaims
✕ 3 falseDozens of Pennsylvania election workers have come forward claiming they were personally ordered by then-Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar to destroy more than 100,000 legitimate Trump ballots and substitute over 100,000 fraudulent Biden ballots.
Lead Stories investigated the identical text, found no matching reports from any established news outlet, and traced the story to a Facebook page that categorises itself as 'comedian' — a satirical/fabricated item that then circulated without the comedy label. No whistleblower group, court filing, affidavit, or credible outlet corroborates the alleged mass ballot destruction or substitution in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania.
This is proof that Biden didn't win the presidency, and Trump actually won Pennsylvania in 2020, with the result 'outcome determinative' fraud in Philadelphia.
Joe Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by roughly 80,000 votes and won the presidency; the result was certified, and recounts, audits and dozens of court challenges — including in Philadelphia — did not overturn it. The attached photo is unconnected 2020 file imagery of ballot-counting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and is not evidence of fraud.
The image shows Pennsylvania election workers involved in the alleged ballot scheme, dated October 26, 2026.
The photo shows election workers sorting mail ballots in yellow Uline bins and fluorescent vests inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on 3 November 2020, documented in contemporaneous coverage and stock footage credited to Bloomberg/Getty. It has no connection to any October 2026 event.
What was posted
XDid dozens of Pennsylvania election workers say then-Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar ordered them to destroy more than 100,000 Trump ballots in the 2020 election?
Who posted it
XAccount check
Estimates from public signals — account age, posting pattern, audience — not a judgement of the person behind the account, and separate from whether this post is true.
What stood out
- Account lacks profile information, including display name, bio, and follower count.
- No recent posts available to assess content quality or engagement.
- Account is not verified on the platform.
- Handle 'larry_mcwethy' is associated with a real person, Larry McWilliams, a former MLB pitcher, but no direct link to the Twitter account is found.
- The account has been retweeted by other users, indicating some level of activity, but without content to evaluate, it's unclear if this is organic or automated.
Signals (4)+
- Posting cadence
- 0
- Follower ratio
- 0
- Notable news coverage
- No
- Fact check history
- No
Account checked October 24, 2026, 14:55 UTC
The media
ImageSynthetic-media detector
Detector not consultedSources settled the claim on their own; the detector was not needed.
Sources
5 sources reviewed- 1Fact Check: Dozens of Pennsylvania Election Workers Did NOT Say Tom Wolf And Kathy Boockvar Ordered Them To Destroy Trump Ballots ↗
Lead Stories (via Yahoo News) · yahoo.comUntiereduntiered — treated as signal only, never decisive
“Lead Stories found no matching reports from established news outlets; the claim originated in a Facebook post whose page lists its category as 'comedian' and spread without the comedy disclaimer.”
- 2Workers count ballots for the 2020 Presidential election at the Philadelphia Convention Center, Nov. 3, 2020 ↗
Axios · axios.comReputable outletCenter/Lean Left
“Photo: Hannah Yoon/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Philadelphia Convention Center ballot counting, 3 November 2020.”
- 3Photos from Ground Zero: The Philly Vote Count ↗
Philadelphia Magazine · phillymag.comUntiereduntiered — treated as signal only, never decisive
“Inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, election workers sorted and verified hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots, many in fluorescent vests.”
- 4Philadelphia city workers counting ballots during 2020 US presidential election ↗
Getty Images · gettyimages.ieUntiereduntiered — treated as signal only, never decisive
“Date created 3 November 2020; location Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia; source Bloomberg Video.”
- 5Pennsylvania vote counters' toil to extend into next week ↗
AP News · apnews.comPrimary / fact-checkerwire + AP Fact Check (Tier A)
“Biden's narrow but growing margin in Pennsylvania drew him closer to winning the state's 20 electoral votes as counting continued at the Philadelphia Convention Center.”
The full story
Bias
Leans pro-Trump / 2020 election denial. The post pushes an outright fabricated 'stolen election' narrative, framing an invented whistleblower story as 'proof' that Biden did not win, with no qualifying language or sourcing beyond an anonymous 'breaking news' format.
Bias describes how the post frames its message — the slant of the language, selection and emphasis — and is judged separately from whether the claim is true. A true claim can still be framed with a strong slant.
How we checked
36 sThe photo is a genuine 2020 image of Philadelphia ballot counting, but the caption's claim that dozens of Pennsylvania election workers have exposed an ordered scheme to destroy Trump ballots is a fabricated story debunked by Lead Stories. Biden's 2020 Pennsylvania win stands, so the post's 'proof' is false.
- The attached photo is a real file image of election workers processing mail ballots in yellow Uline bins at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, on 3 November 2020.
- The text claiming 'dozens of Pennsylvania election workers' have come forward about ordered ballot destruction is not a news report: Lead Stories (28 October 2026) found no matching coverage from any established outlet.
- Lead Stories traced the wording to a Facebook page that lists its category as 'comedian'; reposts, including this X post, dropped that context and presented it as breaking news.
- No affidavit, lawsuit, whistleblower filing or official finding supports the alleged destruction of 100,000+ Trump ballots or substitution of Biden ballots in Philadelphia.
- Biden won Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes in 2020 and the result was certified after recounts, audits and failed legal challenges, so the claim that Trump actually won the state is false.
- The post's dateline (26 October 2026) is grafted onto 2020-era imagery, giving a six-year-old photograph a false appearance of fresh evidence.
- Earliest known appearance of this media: The underlying claim text was first posted on 26 October 2026 by a Facebook account ('Jonathan Gregory') that lists its category as 'comedian'; the X repost by @larry_mcwethy followed on 27 October 2026. The attached photograph is a real 2020 file image of ballot counting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center (Bloomberg/Getty, 3 November 2020)..
✓ Claim checked✓ Media checked✓ Sources checked
Why 92% confidence
HighHigh confidence from independent corroboration.
About this check
- Platform
- X
- Posted by
- @larry_mcwethy
- Posted
- October 27, 2026
- Age when checked
- 1–2 days old when checked
- Where it spread
- United States
- Audience
- US audience
- Language
- EN
- Status
- ● Post is live
- Verified
- October 29, 2026, 03:02 UTC
- Published
- October 29, 2026, 03:02 UTC
Reach. 7,785 likes (syndication, 29 Oct); Lead Stories fact check 28 Oct
This verdict was generated with AI from the sources shown. AI can make mistakes — check the sources before relying on it.
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