Trump says federal government should ‘take over’ state elections
WASHINGTON— President Trump said Monday that the federal government should “nationalize” elections, repeating his longstanding claim — without evidence — that U.S. elections are beset by widespread fraud.
Speaking on a podcast hosted by former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Trump said Republicans “need to take over voting in at least 15 places,” claiming that voting irregularities in what he called “swing states” hurt the GOP.
“The Republican should nationalize the vote,” Trump said.
The proposal would clash with the Constitution’s longstanding framework that gives states primary authority over election administration and underscore Trump’s ongoing efforts to subvert voting rules ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
Trump, for example, complained that Republicans didn’t act “tougher” on the issue, and once again claimed without evidence that he lost the 2020 election because undocumented immigrants illegally voted for Democrats.
“If we don’t get them out, Republicans will never win an election again,” Trump said. “These people were brought into our country to vote, and they’re voting illegally, and it’s surprising that Republicans aren’t tougher on this.”
In his speech, the President suggested that “some interesting things” could come out of Georgia in the near future. Trump did not reveal further details, but he was likely joking about what might happen after the FBI executes a search warrant at his polling station in Fulton County, Ga.
Days after FBI agents attacked the polling station, The New York Times reported Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was at the scene with agents when she called Trump on his cell phone. According to the report, Trump thanked them for their work; According to the report, there was an unusual interaction between the president and investigators related to a politically sensitive investigation.
In the days leading up to the search in Georgia, Trump suggested in a speech during the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, that criminal charges were imminent in connection with what he described as a “rigged” 2020 election.
Georgia is at the center of Trump’s 2020 claims. This is where Trump called Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021 and asked him to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn the state results. Raffensperger rejected that offer, confirming that a series of reviews confirmed Democrat Joe Biden won the state.
Since returning to office a year ago, Trump has continued to aggressively change election rules.
In March, he signed an executive order requiring proof of U.S. citizenship on election forms, but months later a federal judge barred the Trump administration from doing soHe said the order violated the separation of powers.
“Because our Constitution places responsibility for election regulations in the hands of the States and Congress, this Court finds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in October.
Some Republican lawmakers in Congress have supported legislation that would require people to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
Some conservatives are using the election law as a bargaining chip amid negotiations on a spending package that would end a partial government shutdown that began early Saturday.
“ONLY AMERICAN CITIZENS SHOULD VOTE IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS. This is common sense, not rocket science,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.). wrote to X on Monday because negotiations were continuing.
