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| - The exact sentence in the textbook, which was published in 2023, read: "In the 2020 presidential election, [Trump] again put forward his candidacy, but as a result of obvious fraud on the part of the Democratic Party, he lost the election to J. Biden."
In early August 2024, social media users claimed a Russian textbook said former U.S. President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud carried out by the Democrats.
One X user (archived) wrote: "Textbooks for Russian students claim that Democratic voter fraud was the reason why former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election."
Their post included an alleged screenshot of a Russian textbook and had amassed more than 1.5 million views and 46,000 likes as of this writing.
"So Russian history books are more accurate than ours. That's interesting," one X user replied, while another added: "Probably how it's written in all of Europe."
The image also appeared on social media in December 2023.
In short, we rated this claim "True" because the in-question photo was authentic and it did show a Russian textbook claiming that, "in the 2020 presidential election, [Trump] again put forward his candidacy, but as a result of obvious fraud on the part of the Democratic Party, he lost the election to J. Biden."
(For further reading, we recommend our article explaining that there is still no evidence of systematic voter fraud in the 2020 election.)
What Did the Russian Textbook Say?
The textbook's title in Russian was, "История. Всеобщая история. 1945 год — начало XXI века. 11 класс. Базовый уровень" which translates in English to, "History. General history. 1945 - beginning of the 21st century. Grade 11. Basic level." It was published in
Russian online shops selling the textbook said it covered the "main events of world history from 1945 to the early 2020s" and paid "great attention to the issues of the relationship between events in Russian and foreign history."
The electronic form of the textbook has been developed in accordance with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Secondary General Education as amended by the Order of the Ministry of Education No. 732 of 12.08.2022. The textbook covers the main events of world history from 1945 to the early 2020s. The textbook pays great attention to the issues of the relationship between events in Russian and foreign history. A significant place in the textbook is devoted to the issues of the history of the spiritual life of society, culture and everyday life.
Snopes obtained a
Donald Trump
American statesman and politician, businessman, born in 1946, 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021. 1st President of the United States who had not previously held any public office. The richest man of all American presidents. In the 2020 presidential election, he again put forward his candidacy, but as a result of obvious fraud on the part of the Democratic Party, he lost the election to J. Biden.
Below you can see a screenshot of page 54 from the in-question textbook:
("History. General history. 1945 - beginning of the 21st century. Grade 11. Basic level." Textbook)
Moreover, the 2020 election was also mentioned in another part of the textbook, additionally mentioning the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots (again, we translated the text from Russian):
In the 2020 election, Trump lost to Democratic candidate Joe Biden, but claimed that the election was stolen from him. In January 2021, Trump supporters stormed the US Congress building demanding to overturn the election results. As a result, 5 people were killed, more than a thousand were arrested, 20 of them were sentenced to terms of up to 10 years.
The respective part of the textbook on U.S. President Joe Biden informed his political career had been "plagued by corruption scandals" and that he had commercial interests in Ukraine (we translated the text from Russian and added emphasis in bold):
Joe Biden
American statesman and politician Joe Biden was born in 1942. Elected in 2020 at the age of 78, he became the oldest president in US history. His entire political career has been plagued by corruption scandals. He and his family have commercial interests in Ukraine. As a senator, in 1998, speaking about Yugoslavia, he proudly declared: "I proposed that we bomb Belgrade. I proposed sending American pilots and blowing up the bridges across the Danube. I proposed very specific actions."
Below is a screenshot of the textbook's paragraph on Biden that can be found on page 55:
("History. General history. 1945 - beginning of the 21st century. Grade 11. Basic level." Textbook)
Elsewhere in the textbook, Trump was mentioned several other times, including a paragraph on the 2016 election and Trump's approach to relations with China (emphasis ours):
The US authorities failed to develop a long-term strategy to exit the global crisis of 2008 and transition to a post-industrial society. Growing disappointment in American society led to a turn towards conservatism: the Republican Party candidate D. Trump won the 2016 elections. He advocated for the abolition of the health insurance system introduced by his predecessor Obama and for tough measures against the influx of immigrants. On the border with Mexico, from where the main flow of migrants comes, Trump decided to build a wall.
However, the representative and judicial authorities of the United States, controlled by the Democratic Party, did not allow him to achieve any serious changes in domestic policy. In foreign policy, Trump began a trade confrontation with China, introducing customs restrictions against it. These measures were intended to support American industry, but at the same time they threatened the stability of world markets. Trump's policy is one manifestation of the crisis of globalization.
Trump was also mentioned in a paragraph on the Black Lives Matter movement (emphasis ours):
In 2020, racial unrest began in the United States under the slogans of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. [...] Liberal human rights activists funded by Democrats joined the movement. Trump insisted on a more severe suppression of the unrest than local authorities did, especially mayors and governors from the Democratic Party.
The in-question chapter also included a passage on the war in Ukraine, claiming that Russia was "forced to carry out" what it called a "special military operation":
The United States, the European Union, and NATO countries have imposed countless sanctions against Russia after the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO), which our country was forced to carry out in defense of the population of Donbass since February 2022. The United States and NATO countries have sent tens of billions of dollars to the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime, supplying tanks, drones, air defense systems, mines, and other weapons to Ukraine.
In August 2023, TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, reported that new history textbooks for grades 10 and 11 would be used in the educational process from September 1, 2023:
As reported by the Ministry of Education, new history textbooks for grades 10-11 will be used in the educational process from September 1. The publication consists of four books: History of Russia (grade 10), World History (grade 10), History of Russia (grade 11), and World History (grade 11). Thus, for the first time, two courses have been synchronized - the history of Russia and world history.
TASS also said the new history textbooks reflected "the reasons and course of the special military operation, the reunification of the Russian Federation with Crimea, as well as the incorporation of new regions into the country."
Below you can see the above-mentioned textbooks for 10 and 11 grade.
(Presidential Library)
Snopes also recently fact-checked other Russia-related rumors. For instance, in late July 2024, we investigated whether U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris once said: "Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So basically that's wrong."
In early July, we debunked a photo allegedly showing Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un riding a rollercoaster together.
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