Critics say president using well-worn playbook – with loyalists in key positions ready to amplify his message
Donald Trump is “inventing fraud” in California’s primary elections, and likely to ramp up unfounded allegations when more races go against him, pro-democracy experts have warned.
While the US president has used this playbook for years – from his loss at the Emmys as a reality TV star to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election – election integrity campaigners fear this time could be different.
“California’s election is not the problem here,” said Omar Noureldin, senior vice-president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a pro-democracy watchdog group. “The problem is that we have a president in the Oval Office who continues to lie and sow doubt over elections instead of facing accountability from voters.”
Trump lost his cool after a journalist pushed back on his latest attempt to sow doubt in election results, storming out of a Meet the Press interview which aired this weekend.
The outburst showcased a feature of Trump’s approach if results don’t go his way: he quickly declares them rigged, rallying his supporters and rightwing media to spread similar messages. California is the latest – and largest – test of this technique in this election cycle.
This year’s midterms will serve as an example of how the president will wield the federal government’s power at cities and states in a crusade to ensure his party maintains power.
In contrast to 2020, when his...
The Kristo Asafo Mission of Ghana has rejected claims that former Dome-Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was shot during an incident at the church’s property at Kwabenya, describing...