Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on the dangers of election disinformation

Tom Corbett, who served as the Republican governor of Pennsylvania until 2015, is no longer in politics. Instead, he is spending his time stumping against disinformation and warning voters about how it is corroding democracy. Corbett is now working with Know Our Republic, an organization made up of former elected officials and other leaders from both parties who are fighting election disinformation.

On Tuesday, Corbett spoke with Recorded Future News about why disinformation is so dangerous, what to make of specific falsehoods being spread on Election Day, and why he believes that Americans must start asking for proof before believing what they read online.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Recorded Future News: You're a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania who's concerned enough about disinformation to join Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan organization working in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Why did you decide this cause was important enough to lend your expertise and time to?

Tom Corbett: It was based upon what's been happening for the last four years and the disinformation that has been out there that is quite often spread through social media and misunderstanding of exactly how elections are run. 

RFN: Just a few days ago, former President Trump posted a message online that began with the words, “Pennsylvania is cheating.” What would you say to voters about that allegation, particularly coming from the Republican nominee for president?

TC: As I have said for the last two years since I've been with Keep Our Republic: Show me the evidence. I'm a prosecutor at heart. I was an assistant District Attorney, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney and Attorney General. You can make all the allegations you want, but you better be able to produce the proof. If you don’t produce the proof, it didn't happen. 

RFN: Is Donald Trump a threat to democracy?

TC: I'm not going to get into that. I think that the people have to judge individuals based upon what they know of them and make their decisions from that. I think democracy is being demonstrated as we speak today with everybody going to the polls. I went to my polls today and they're pretty full and I believe we're seeing democracy in action today. 

RFN: News today about a software malfunction in Cambria County, Pennsylvania that is preventing voters from scanning ballots countywide is leading to disinformation about fraud. Kari Lake, who's the Arizona Republican Senate nominee and is a Trump ally, used the incident to suggest it shows the election in Pennsylvania is rigged. Have you been following this situation, and what would you say about it? 

TC: I haven't been following Kari Lake since she's in Arizona and not here in Pennsylvania. I have been following it here in Pennsylvania and I will tell you that [Cambria County] is a Republican county. It used to be a Democrat county until the Trump election in 2016 changed everything in this part of the state. But the judge has granted an extension of two hours, until 10 p.m., for people to vote. I think that's a common sense application of the rules, and in this day and age we are going to have malfunctions in software. Without having any evidence that it was intentional or some grand conspiracy, I think it's inappropriate to make allegations that that was intentional. 

RFN: Are you concerned that that piece of disinformation is affecting Republican voters in Pennsylvania, or all voters for that matter? 

TC: I'm concerned that the effort in disinformation that we've seen for the last four years — much of it coming from foreign governments trying to divide this country and much of it on social media, where I think we have been more divided than we’ve been maybe since the Civil War, with allegations that are made without proof — is dangerous for this country. 

RFN: Do you think more needs to be done to regulate social media companies when it comes to how they're overseeing their platforms? 

TC: What is stated on social media today and is being repeated over and over again is very dangerous. You can't go into a movie theater and yell ‘fire!’ There's a great panic.

RFN: Have you heard about the text campaign targeting voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states that purports to be from Kamala Harris and emphasizes her support for Israel if the recipient identifies themselves as pro-Palestine?

TC: I get a lot of texts. I delete them right away. I don't respond to them. I'm always concerned about any of these texts coming from somebody that I don't know and I just delete them right away. So I have not seen any of those.

RFN: What are you most worried about happening tonight and in the coming days? 

TC: You're always concerned. Let's put it this way, based upon what's been going on for the last eight years — maybe more, maybe like 10 years — you're concerned about violence, where we were never really that concerned in the past. A lot of that is stirred up by the passions that people have based upon what they hear or see in the various news outlets that they follow. 

There's the red team and the blue team. We at Keep Our Republic are trying to be the truth team. “This is what happened. This is what we know.” We're not trying to persuade anybody to our side, because we don't have a side in this one. But I think people have to be very careful in anything that they look at online and ask “give me evidence that this happened.”