President Donald Trump revived baseless allegations of election fraud on Monday, reversing his initial acceptance of last week’s midterm results after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress, BNN Bloomberg reported.
“Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, offering no evidence of wrongdoing.
Trump Claims Voting Machines Outweigh the Electorate
Trump pointed to large batches of early ballots as evidence of foul play. “Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote,” he wrote.
He added that the mechanics of voting outweighed the electorate itself. “It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!”
The extraordinary reversal came six days after Americans delivered a sweeping rejection of Trump’s party, handing Democrats control of the Senate. Trump initially struck an unusually conciliatory tone, congratulating his opponents and acknowledging they had fought a successful campaign.
Trump nearly a week after the midterms: "Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???" pic.twitter.com/Gq15UyzvD9
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” he told The New York Times on election night, adding that he looked forward to working with Democrats. He subsequently praised their campaign on Fox News, declaring: “I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do.”
Shifting Stances Since Election Night
The shift follows a series of post-election statements from the president regarding the outcome. On Thursday, Trump demanded that votes cast for two minor candidates in Alaska’s still-undecided U.S. Senate election be transferred to the trailing Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan.
"I will be interviewed tonight on '60 Minutes.' Hopefully, they will show all the good things we’ve done over the past 2 years… If we get help from the Republican Senate, we can still do things that are unbelievable!" – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/Ts0Xf4cXqu
Monday’s accusations went further, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the elections nationwide.
They echoed Trump’s repeated and unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him by Democrat Joe Biden. His refusal to accept that defeat sparked dozens of unsuccessful legal challenges and culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Schumer Reacts to Trump's Election Denialism
Democrats reacted furiously to the president’s latest accusations. “Donald Trump’s pathetic return to election denialism was inevitable,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. “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.”
Trump offered no details of the supposed irregularities, identifying neither the voting machines he questioned nor specific evidence that ballots had been improperly counted. Pre-election polls had generally pointed toward Democratic gains, although they underestimated the scale of the party’s victories. Election officials across the country reported largely trouble-free voting.
Donald Trump’s pathetic return to election denialism was inevitable. 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… pic.twitter.com/7UlDns6yLd
The Republican president had previously blamed his party’s defeat on his absence from the ballot, despite repeatedly urging supporters during the campaign to vote as though he were running himself. He also acknowledged that the deeply unpopular war with Iran, which sent fuel prices soaring, had contributed to the losses.
The Democrats’ commanding congressional majorities will give them extensive powers to investigate his administration and obstruct his legislative agenda when the new Congress takes office in January, though Trump retains his presidential veto and considerable executive powers.
Reasons for Defeat and Further Reactions
They didn’t like that gasoline was up.”
Republicans threatened to interfere with the election. Democrats prepared. Election lawyers fought back. Tens of thousands of poll watchers stood guard. And Americans made their voices heard. Our democracy is stronger than any politician who tries to undermine it.
“In some cases they didn’t like the candidates, and that’s their prerogative,” Trump said in the interview, which was taped Friday. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote in another post, stating also: “We would have won easily if I was on the ballot.”
Regarding other social media statements, Trump wrote about what he termed demoralization efforts: “They’re called, ‘Demoralization Operations,’ where they try to demoralize Republicans so that they don’t go out and vote — But the actual Polls are tremendous, and the Spirit in our Country has never been higher.”
