Returning to familiar playbook, Trump claims US midterm elections were stolen
Despite earlier saying he would accept results, US president now posts on social media: 'Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest'
US President Donald Trump renewed baseless allegations of election fraud on Monday after Democrats swept both chambers of the US Congress, reversing his course, just days after saying he would accept the midterm results.
“Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???” Trump wrote on Truth Social, alleging without evidence that large early voting “dumps” had made Republican victories impossible. Polls before the election had largely predicted that Democrats would seize control of both the House and the Senate, although they underestimated the extent of the blue wave, which saw Republicans go down in defeat even in deep-red states.
“It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!” Trump added.
The accusations marked a sharp reversal from Trump’s initial acceptance of the outcome. “I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” he told The New York Times on election night.
The president has repeatedly made unfounded claims of election fraud, most notably following his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
“Donald Trump’s pathetic return to election denialism was inevitable,” said Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, who is poised to lead the body.
“He can whine all he wants, but nothing will stop this inescapable truth: For the last two years of his presidency, Trump will face the largest Democratic congressional majorities in decades, all because he has been an unprecedented failure,” Schumer added.
Before the vote took place, Trump’s administration appeared to be laying the groundwork for a potential challenge of the results.
The Justice Department sued 30 states and the District of Columbia to obtain their voter registration lists, saying it needed them to find non-citizens. It lost more than two dozen of those cases. It also demanded that ballots be set aside from about 20,000 people in California and more than 400 in Washington state who it said it suspected were non-citizens.
The US Supreme Court rejected the California request, handing the Trump administration a snub a day before election day. Washington State also refused the demand. Studies have repeatedly found non-citizen voting to be exceptionally rare.
The Justice Department also sued Alaska to delay certification of its Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly loses to Democrat Mary Peltola, citing a second candidate named Dan Sullivan who it says was trying to confuse voters, which he denies.
Trump said he ordered the lawsuit. Experts say federal law does not allow the department to block certification, which courts can compel officials to carry out.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.