Ahead of California’s upcoming recall election, former President Donald Trump is reviving his unfounded claims of widespread fraud to suggest that Democrats will rig the results in favor of the incumbent governor.
During an interview on Newsmax, the former president addressed the election and recycled his unfounded claims of fraud.
“It’s probably rigged. They’re sending out all ballots… the ballots are mail-out, mail-in ballots,” Trump said.
He continued, “In fact, I guess you even have a case where you can make your own ballots. When that happens, nobody’s going to win except these Democrats. So, you know, look, the one thing they’re good at is rigging elections. So I predict it’s a rigged election. Let’s see how it turns out.”
It was unclear what Trump was referring to when he claimed voters can “make your own” ballot.
Watch the video below:
Trump, on Newsmax, claims the recall election in California is "probably rigged" (as if Democrats can't win elections there fair and square) pic.twitter.com/gPbSq0XHGN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 8, 2021
Trump’s comments come as polls show that the recall election is trending in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) favor once again.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls, 53.3% of Californians do not want the governor removed, while 42.7% do.
In early August, FiveThirtyEight’s average showed a razor-thin race with just a .2% margin in favor of keeping Newsom.
If more than 50% of voters cast their ballot in favor of removing Newsom, he would be recalled and have to step down. His replacement would be determined by whichever candidate on the ballot received the most votes of all the contenders.
As The New York Times notes, “So 49.9 percent of the voters can back Mr. Newsom, and he can still lose to someone who is supported by only, say, 20 percent of the electorate. On the replacement question, the winner does not need a majority to be named the next governor.”
The recall election is Sept. 14.
Trump repeatedly claimed that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election that altered the outcome. Despite his assertions, several recounts and legal challenges failed the change the results.