Donald Trump Repeats Claims Of Voter Fraud In The Midterms, Tells Republicans To “Be More Paranoid”

Speaking before the National Republican Congressional Committee Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump once again challenged the integrity of the U.S. electoral process. Trump suggested votes were counted in a manner that favored Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections although he offered no evidence to support his claim.

“We’ve gotta watch those vote tallies,” Trump said to his Republican colleagues. “You know, I keep hearing about the election and the various counting measures that they have.” Continuing, Trump lamented how there “were a lot of close elections” and “every single one of them went Democrat.”

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“There’s something going on,” Trump claimed, adding how his fellow Republicans should be “be a little bit more paranoid” than they are. “We have to be a little bit careful because I don’t like the way the votes are being tallied. I don’t like it and you don’t like either, you just don’t want to say it because you’re afraid of the press,” he said.

Nevertheless, Trump remains optimistic for the 2020 elections. He is “totally confident” his party will retake the House.

Trump has regularly claimed that election fraud is common, often citing Florida’s close gubernatorial and Senate races as examples. The Republican candidates eventually won both races in the Sunshine State. Trump also questioned the legitimacy of the Arizona Senate race – Democrat Kyrsten Sinema eventually defeated Republican candidate Martha McSally after counting the late votes. McSally, however, was ahead on election night.

Just out — in Arizona, SIGNATURES DON’T MATCH. Electoral corruption – Call for a new Election? We must protect our Democracy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018

According to Charles Stewart III, the director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Arizona’s election was not unusual. He explains how late voting has leaned blue since 2000, owing partially to young and minority voters with contested registrations generally being given provisional ballots. Democrats are more likely to vote by mail than their Republican counterparts.

Trump established the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity after he took office, to investigate his concerns that millions of people voted illegally in 2016. The commission was dissolved after less than eight months, during which time it found no evidence supporting Trump’s fears of voter fraud.