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In a recent interview with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, President Trump urged Republicans to assert control over the electoral process in over a dozen states before the upcoming November midterm elections.
Trump proposed, “Republicans should step up and manage the voting in at least 15 locations,” during his conversation with Bongino. He added that Republicans should aim to “nationalize the voting” process.
During the interview, Trump also repeated the unproven claims that he was the true victor of the 2020 election, alleging that some states he believes he won incorrectly reflected otherwise.
When queried about Trump’s remarks, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson emphasized that the president is committed to the integrity and security of the electoral system.
“This is why he has been advocating for the passage of the SAVE Act and other legislative measures,” Jackson stated. These proposals seek to establish consistent photo ID requirements for voting, eliminate no-excuse mail-in voting, and terminate ballot harvesting, alongside mandating proof of citizenship for voter registration.
The Trump administration has sought to nationalize some aspects of the electoral system, including by requesting states to turn over voter rolls to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department has sued about two dozen states for refusing to turn over the data, which includes personal information pertaining to individuals’ Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers, in a push to make sure states are maintaining compliance in keeping up their voter rolls.
While some states have complied with the Trump administration’s requests, most have not given the administration voter roll data with associated sensitive information.
The latest comments are likely to unnerve Democrats, who have already raised worries that Trump will seek to interfere in the coming elections.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), for example, suggested in a recent interview with CNN that the president was trying to meddle in the November midterms.
“Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to try to interfere in the upcoming 2026 election. He says that his one regret from 2020 was that he didn’t take the voting machines,” Murphy said.
Murphy also took issue with a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent asking Minnesota to provide voter rolls.
“And it is really alarming that, in this letter, Bondi says, ‘Well, we will get the ICE officers out of Minneapolis if you give us control of your voter lists,’” he said, referring to a letter from Bondi in which she requested that Minnesota produce several items, including the state’s voter rolls.