As Election Day approaches, former President Donald Trump has increasingly been warning that if he loses, it will be because of cheating.
“They’re going to cheat. They cheat. That’s all they want to do is cheat,” Trump said of Democrats during a rally this month in Juneau, Wisconsin. “It’s the only way they’re going to win. And we can’t let that happen, and we can’t let it happen again. We’re going to have no country.”
He followed up at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, last week by looking out into the crowd at Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and asking, “They’re trying, but are they — they’re not going to get away with it, right?”
And at a rally in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in September, Trump asserted he would win despite cheating and then prosecute those involved in the alleged voter fraud.
“When we win, we’re going to prosecute people that cheat on this election. And if we can, we’ll go back to the last one too, if we’re allowed,” Trump said, referring to the 2020 election. “We’re going to prosecute people, so at least they know that’s going to happen.”
Trump has long inaccurately claimed that he is the legitimate winner of the 2020 election, and false claims of Democratic meddling have been a centerpiece of his campaign this cycle. But by pre-emptively raising doubts about the results, Trump is setting the stage to possibly challenge the outcome and throw the electoral system into chaos once again.
An NBC News analysis found that at his last 20 rallies, Trump mentioned Democrats’ likelihood of cheating in the November election at 14 of those events. By comparison, in 20 of his rally speeches over the summer, Trump referenced Democrats trying to cheat in the 2024 race just five times.
Democrats are already preparing for Trump to either declare a premature victory on election night or legally challenge the results if he loses. Some of Trump’s allies have also speculated to NBC News that they anticipate he may declare himself the winner even if the results are not yet settled….