Trump reveals the one condition that will get him to accept midterm results
Trump, like in the previous two presidential election cycles, has sown doubt into the integrity of the voting process as Americans start to cast their ballots
President Donald Trump has revealed the one condition that will get him to accept the results of the upcoming midterm elections, even if his party loses races.
Trump said that once the ballots are counted, he will accept the results no matter what — as long as they are “honest.” His comment was eerily similar to what he said in the lead-up to the 2024 election, which he ultimately won.
“If you do not prevail in this election, despite having worked as hard as you’ve had, how do you intend to work with Democrats if they have control of the House or the Senate?” a reporter asked him Tuesday before he headed to Texas for back-to-back rallies in support of Republican candidates.
“We’ll figure a way,” Trump said. The president mentioned that he has “strong” veto power, adding, “I hope that won’t be the case, but if it is, that’s happened before with many presidents. You have strong veto and you end up working out deals.”
When asked whether he’ll “respect the results, whatever happens,” Trump said, “I will if they’re honest elections.”’
Just like in the lead-up to the 2020 and 2024 elections, Trump has sown doubt in the voting process — a week before Election Day. Early voting has already started, with more than 33 million votes already cast either in person or by mail, according to NBC News.
In May 2024, Trump told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results.” But he warned, “If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country.”
This time around, Trump directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to block the certification of a tight Senate race in Alaska if Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.
Trump and other Republicans have argued that since there is a second candidate not affiliated with a party named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot, it could siphon votes away from the GOP incumbent. The president has gone as far as to claim the unaffiliated candidate is only running “because the Democrats want to steal the Election.”
CNN’s Dana Bash asked Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday’s episode of State of the Union whether Trump is “laying the groundwork” to try to overturn the election — as he did after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
Blanche then went off on Bash, telling her to “stop it!”
“You’ve gotta stop it with that! You are not being a real person! Come on, man! That is crazy!” he said.
Meanwhile, nearly 600 popular right-wing social media accounts, podcasts and other online media have published more than 7,000 statements questioning the integrity of the midterms this year, according to a Washington Post analysis published Tuesday.
Seventy percent of Americans were not confident that Trump would accept the midterm results if his party loses, compared to just 28 percent who said they were confident that he would accept them, a recent Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found.