Here is PolitiFact readers’ pick for 2023 Lie of the Year

It’s time to announce PolitiFact readers' pick for 2023 Lie of the Year — and it’s a close one.  

PolitiFact awards the Lie of the Year to the most significant falsehood or exaggeration that worked to undermine an accurate narrative. Although editors make the official choice, we also poll readers to see which falsehood they think needs recognition.  

RELATED: PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign of conspiracy theories

The 2023 winner of our Readers’ Choice poll? Former President Donald Trump’s False claim that "They are trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election," after he was charged in a federal indictment for efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s claim won our readers’ poll with a slim majority, racking up 22% of the 1,126 votes cast. 

The indictment, released Aug. 1, said Trump "had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election" and that the former president could also challenge the results of the 2020 election through lawful means. The four charges against Trump were related to his actions to subvert election results, not questioning them. 

It’s the third consecutive year that a claim by the former president has won our readers’ poll. Readers picked Trump’s claim that he won the 2020 presidential election in 2021 and his claim about former President Barack Obama and classified documents in 2022. (Our official winners were lies about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Vladimir Putin’s lies about Ukraine in 2022.)

Second place in the Readers’ Choice Poll went to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ False claim that, "In some liberal states, you actually have post-birth abortions," with 21% of the votes.

PolitiFact editors chose independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign built on conspiracy theories as the official Lie of the Year for 2023. Kennedy's Pants on Fire claim that COVID-19 was "targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people" and to spare Jewish and Chinese people finished third in the readers’ poll, with 18% of the vote.

Here’s our full list of choices and the percentage of votes each one received. 

1. Former President Donald Trump: "They are trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election." False. 22%

2. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis "In some liberal states, you actually have post-birth abortions." False. 21%

3. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese." Pants on Fire! 18%

4. Former President Donald Trump: "Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund (the attacks on Israel by Hamas), which many reports are saying came from the Biden administration." False. 10%

5. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: "There’s not been a single book banned in the state of Florida." False. 9%

6. Former U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y.: "I never claimed to be Jewish." Pants on Fire! 6%

7. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley: Having "biological boys … in their locker rooms" is a reason why "a third of our teenage girls seriously contemplated suicide last year." False. 5%

8. Write your own. 4%

9. President Joe Biden: "Ground zero in New York — I remember standing there the next day." False. 3%

10. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Atrazine in the water supply is contributing to "sexual dysphoria" in kids. False. 1%

11. Instagram posts: Maui, Hawaii, fires are part of an intentional effort to rebuild the island into a "smart island." False. 1%

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