Trump again claims election fraud after Virginia defeat
US President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that the Virginia vote, which paved the way for a redrawing of the state’s congressional map, was rigged, reviving a familiar line of attack after Republicans lost a closely watched election.
Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a redistricting referendum that could help Democrats flip four Republican-held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and improve Democrats’ chances of winning control of the chamber in November.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said, “THERE WAS A FRAUDULENT ELECTION IN THE GREAT COMMUNITY OF VIRGINIA LAST NIGHT!” and blamed mail-in ballots for the outcome.
The post was the latest example of Trump casting doubt on election results he doesn’t like by portraying ordinary vote counting, specifically a breakdown of mail ballots, as evidence of fraud without providing evidence.
The outcome in Virginia was the latest turning point in the nation’s redistricting arms race, which Trump and Texas Republicans launched to defend the party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives in November 2025 midterm elections.
Trump, who does not accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election despite being unable to challenge the results in dozens of courts, has constantly tried to undermine faith in the voting process.
After his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, Trump falsely claimed widespread fraud and supported efforts to overturn the outcome, including pressuring then-vice president Mike Pence to not certify the election results.
Courts, state election officials and his own administration have since found no evidence of fraud on a scale that would have changed the outcome.
In recent months, the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to revive claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. While the Justice Department is investigating some of the state voter data, the FBI has revived old allegations of election fraud in battleground states including Georgia.
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