On Friday, President Trump called on Spencer Pratt, a candidate for the mayor of Los Angeles, to challenge the primary election results.
The leader of the Republican party reiterated his recent assertions, alleging that the electoral process in California was manipulated.
“Spencer Pratt… He shouldn’t concede quietly. It is my firm belief that this election was fraudulent,” Trump declared while addressing the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
Trump further likened Pratt’s defeat to a potential loss that could have impacted Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton until he took action.
“And then they attempted to undermine Steve Hilton as well, so I contacted the U.S. attorney and urged them to investigate,” he added.
Earlier in the week, the president had revealed at a rally that he used the controversial turn in Spencer Pratt’s election results to put pressure on a US Attorney in California, claiming it helped saved Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton from a primary loss.
Pratt’s loss — where he had an Election Day second-place lead that slipped after mail ballots were counted — fueled speculation of voter manipulation.
Trump has taken part in that speculation and blasted California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process that can take weeks for fueling that. He has made it known that he wants to target mail voting, which California generously employs.
On Election Day, it seemed Pratt would make the runoff to face off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Instead, socialist city councilmember Nithya Raman surged from late-arriving mail ballots counted days later to secure the last top-two spot for the general election.
Pratt has seemingly conceded the election, but he has insisted he is not going way. He had dropped a bombshell concession video that seemed more like a threat, claiming he has evidence he will reveal that could take Bass or Raman down.
“You think you can get rid of me that easily? I know a lot of dimwitted jerks thought I was in this for a grift. That I was going to roll up and leave town if I didn’t get into city hall,” Pratt had said.