On June 4, 2026, speaking from the Oval Office about his plan to invest in the U.S. coal industry, Donald Trump claimed that California is "rigging" the primary election:

So what's happening in California? They're rigging the election. Now, maybe we caught them and maybe they won't be able to get away with it. Uh they tried with me. They did it successfully the second time. The third time we made it too big to rig. Too many votes. They couldn't do it. They can only go. They sort of gave up at about 9007 when they got slaughtered with the votes that came in. But no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel. So, we're being very progressive and we just don't want cheating in our elections. And you see it happening in California. Those numbers are coming down rapidly. They found a lot of mail in ballots last night, shockingly. So, we don't want that.

On June 3, 2026 at 9:48 p.m. Trump posted the following on Truth Social:

The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS

Seventeen minutes later, at 9:48 p.m. Trump posted a follow-up on Truth Social:

There's BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY??? President DJT

More:

• Donald Trump Baselessly Accuses California 'Dumocrats' of Stealing Governor and L.A. Mayor Elections as Votes Slowly Counted | People
• Trump Accuses California Democrats of 'Cheating' Over Pace of Vote Counts | Time

Commentary:

THIS IS JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY TRUMP IS UNFIT TO BE PRESIDENT.

Trump gave no evidence of "rigging" or "cheating."

Once again, as always, Trump is spreading outright lies and creating distrust in our election system.

Anyone who pays attention to how elections are conducted in the U.S. understands that in states with large numbers of mail-in ballots, it takes a long time to process them. This means that final election results in close elections are sometimes not known for many days, and sometimes not for several weeks after election day.

IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO PROCESS MAIL-IN BALLOTS. THAT'S NOT EVIDENCE OF "CHEATING" AND IT DOESN'T MEAN AN ELECTION IS "RIGGED."

Trump is the reason there is so much election skepticism and outright election denial in the U.S., and it's precisely because of the kinds of things he's saying right now about the primary election taking place in California.

It's a well-known fact that Democrats vote by mail in greater numbers than Republicans. Because of that, Republican ballots are, in general, going to be processed before Democrat ballots. This is the reason that Republicans might be leading early on in the vote count, but later on, as mail-in ballots are counted, that lead might be less or it might disappear. We've all seen this happen many times in past elections. When you have mail-in ballots, that's just the way it is. They take time to process to ensure their validity.

YES, IT'S THAT SIMPLE, AND ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TELL YOU OTHERWISE IS TRYING TO GASLIGHT YOU INTO IGNORING OBJECTIVE REALITY.

But there is something more sinister going in in Trump's commentary about the California primary.

If you've been paying attention, you know that Trump and his sycophants have been doing everything in their power to sway the upcoming November mid-term elections in their favor. Trump's claims about California are laying the groundwork for claims he will most likely make in November. Trump is intensifying his ongoing narrative that Democrats cheat in order to keep that bogus narrative in the news cycle so people keep hearing it. He's trying to gaslight and brainwash people into thinking that election fraud happens all the time, and it's Democrats who are always to blame.

Unless Republicans way, way over-perform in November (unlikely based on Trump's low approval numbers), Trump will undoubtedly claim major election fraud in blue states. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he then declared a "national emergency" (one of this favorite, overused, bogus claims whenever he wants to do something radical), seize voting machines, send "official inspectors" to certain states and counties, and have the federal government determine the outcome of the elections.

If you think I'm crazy in saying this, then you really, REALLY haven't been paying attention.

Why does Trump do this?

HE DOES IT BECAUSE HE IS A POWER-HUNGRY, EGO-CONTROLLED MANIAC WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO PUSH HIS RADICAL AGENDA AND KEEP DEMOCRATS FROM GAINING POWER.

No, Democrats are not up to anything in California.

But Trump sure is.