Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday began sowing doubt about the results of the neck-and-neck Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania, urging his endorsed candidate, celebrity TV doctor Mehmet Oz, to “declare victory” over former hedge fund CEO David McCormick before all the votes are counted.

Pennsylvania, a state Trump won in 2016 but lost four years later, was at the center of his baseless claims that fraud cost him the 2020 election, and he suggested Wednesday that something nefarious could happen in Oz’s race. Trump falsely claimed victory in Pennsylvania in 2020 and sought to stop mail-in ballots from being counted.

On Wednesday, the former president sought to declare on his social media site, Truth Social, that Oz had won, even though the race has not been called. He derided the mail-in ballots, posting: “Here we go again! In Pennsylvania they are unable to count the Mail-in Ballots. It is a BIG MESS. Our Country should go to paper ballots, with same day voting. Just done in France, zero problems. Get Smart America!”

“It makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find,’” Trump said, providing no evidence.

As of Wednesday morning, Oz, who earned Trump’s endorsement in April, held a razor-thin lead over McCormick, who sought Trump’s support and was backed by many Trump allies. With 95 percent of votes counted, Oz was at 31.3 percent and McCormick was at 31.1 percent.

Pennsylvania law mandates an automatic recount if a...

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