Ahead of Election Day, former President Donald Trump’s supporters are resurfacing an unproven claim from 2020 that a senior Dominion Voting Systems employee told Antifa members he had “made sure” Trump would not win.

“Don’t worry about the election, Trump won’t win. I made sure of that!” says a Nov. 1 Instagram post. The post attributes the quote to Eric Coomer, identified as Dominion’s director of strategy and security. The post also says Coomer made the statement while “speaking on an antifa conference call.”

Another text on the post reads: “(Repost) if you don’t trust the Dominion voting machines and want ballots instead,” and the caption reads, in part, “More than ever we must stand up for the final battle! ! TRUMP WILL WIN!!

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat fake news and misinformation in its news feed. (Read more about our partnership with Metawhich owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Almost identical images are also shared on Facebook and X. They do not include any indication that this allegation originated in 2020.

This claim is unproven and is the subject of a defamation lawsuit. A judge fined the person who originally made the claim $1,000 a day for failing to provide evidence to support the allegation. The fine is currently on hold pending an appeal.

“The Dominion Boy”

On November 9, 2020, nearly a week after Election Day, Colorado conservative activist Joe Oltmann claimed he was able to listen to an “antifa conference call” before the election, during which a man named Eric from Dominion promised Trump that will not win. Oltmann referred to him as “the Dominion guy”.

“They’re talking on this call and he’s answering, and I’m paraphrasing that, right… ‘Don’t worry about the election. Trump will not win. I made sure of that. Ha ha”. And everyone says, “Yes.” And then someone else responds by “being fair,” Oltmann said on his podcast, Conservative Daily.

Trump allies and pro-Trump cable news networks such as One America News and Newsmax amplified Oltmann’s claim.

PolitiFact found no credible evidence that Dominion machines affected any number of votes, and our reporting found that Dominion Voting Systems were used in only a few counties that had minor problems that were quickly resolved. These problems were the result of either human error or temporary failures. Republicans and Democrats who run the election also say there wasn’t vote rigging using Dominion systems.

Dominion Voting Systems has been the subject of many claims denied during and after the 2020 election. The company won a $787 million settlement against Fox News for repeatedly airing false claims.

Coomer’s previous anti-Trump statements

Coomer, who served as Dominion’s director of product strategy and security during the 2020 election, posted anti-Trump comments on his Facebook page in 2016. Oltmann found the comments and aired them on his podcast.

“I don’t care if you’re a friend, family or casual acquaintance,” Coomer wrote in one post. “(If) you pull the lever, mark an oval, tap the screen for that carnival bark… UNFRIEND ME NOW.”

Coomer said The New York Times in 2021 that the Facebook posts were genuine. But he said he never attended an antifa conference and never said the things Oltmann claimed he did.

“I did not participate in a vote rigging scheme,” Coomer said in court sworn statement. “I did not participate in an Antifa conference call and boast about my alleged ability to rig the election. Such behavior is antithetical to my belief system and would constitute criminal conduct.”

Oltmann never provided evidence

Coomer filed a defamation suit against OItmann and others who amplified the claim.

Oltmann has yet to provide evidence about the “antifa conference call” or how he gained access to the meeting. He never gave details about the person who gave him access to Coomer’s private Facebook account, USA Today reported in September.

Also, Oltmann has yet to provide any corroborating evidence that Coomer said the things Oltmann claimed.

A judge in the defamation case ruled in September 2024 that Oltmann owes Coomer $1,000 a day as long as he continues to withhold evidence of his claims of election fraud. Colorado politics reported. In October, the court agreed to suspend the fines pending an appeal.

Newsmax has it too withdrew his claims about Coomer.

“Newsmax found no evidence that Dr. Coomer interfered with Dominion’s voting machines or voting software in any way, nor that Dr. Coomer ever claimed to have done so,” it said in a statement Newsmax from 2021. “Newsmax has also found no evidence that Dr. Coomer ever participated in any conversations with ‘antifa’ members, nor that he was directly involved in any partisan political organization.”

We rate this claim false.