President Trump and the White House have discussed plans to question the validity of the midterm elections if Democrats take control of the House or Senate, says famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.
Speaking on CNN last Friday, Bernstein said that Trump is prepared to question the election if there are close results. “I talked to people in touch with the White House on Friday who believe that, if the congressional midterms are very close and the Democrats were to win by five or seven seats, that Trump is already talking about how to throw legal challenges into the courts, sow confusion, declare a victory actually, and say that the election’s been illegitimate,” said Bernstein, after being asked if Trump’s tweet threatening fraudulent voters was a form of voter suppression.
“That is really under discussion in the White House,” he added.
The Democrats hold a 9-point lead in the generic Congressional ballot and are expected to take control of the House on Election Day, Nov. 6. But dozens of Congressional races and governorships are very tight, polling within the margin of error.
Trump has repeatedly questioned the U.S. election system without evidence.
During the 2016 presidential election, Trump repeatedly called the election “rigged” against him. Toward the end of the contest, with Hillary Clinton the expected winner, Trump said he wouldn’t necessarily accept the results as legitimate.
Then he won. Shortly after taking office, Trump repeated his claim — without evidence — that three million people had voted illegally.
Statistics show voter fraud to be exceptionally rare. An analysis by the National Republican Lawyers Association found only 332 alleged cases of voter fraud nationwide from 1997 through 2011, out of hundreds of millions of ballots cast.
That hasn’t stopped President Trump from suggesting voter fraud is underway. “All levels of government and Law Enforcement are watching carefully for VOTER FRAUD, including during EARLY VOTING. Cheat at your own peril. Violators will be subject to maximum penalties, both civil and criminal!” he tweeted on Monday.
All levels of government and Law Enforcement are watching carefully for VOTER FRAUD, including during EARLY VOTING. Cheat at your own peril. Violators will be subject to maximum penalties, both civil and criminal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2018
