In a surprising reversal, former President Donald Trump has publicly questioned the legitimacy of last week’s U.S. midterm elections, a stark contrast to his earlier statements of acceptance. The comments came less than a week after Trump congratulated Democratic leaders on their sweeping gains and expressed willingness to work with the new majority.
On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social, asking, “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest?” and “How could the Polls be so wrong???” The post included graphs that cast doubt on voter turnout figures, though no evidence of fraud was provided. Trump also claimed that early voting counts were so large that they made it impossible for Republicans to win, a claim that has not been substantiated by any official audit or investigation.
Polls leading up to the election had largely favored Democrats, with many surveys suggesting the party was poised to take control of the House and secure a realistic chance at the Senate. A Pew Research report released after the polls showed that pre‑election data had understated the Democratic margin by at least two points in 23 of 27 races for governor and the U.S. Senate.
Trump’s latest remarks mark his first explicit public challenge to the overall midterm results since the Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress and won several traditionally Republican strongholds. The comments came a day after a CBS 60 Minutes interview in which Trump appeared to accept the outcome, stating he had congratulated Democrats and was open to working with the incoming majority.
Following the election, Trump congratulated the Democratic Party on a call with CBS News and later told Fox News that the party “did a good job.” He also told The New York Times last week that he “absolutely” accepted the results.
In response, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump’s return to election denialism, writing on X that the president’s “return to election denialism was inevitable.” Schumer added that Trump’s “unprecedented failure” would lead to the largest Democratic congressional majorities in decades.
Republican circles have been distancing themselves from Trump after the party’s midterm losses. Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly, who had supported Trump in 2024, responded to his fraud claims on X with a blunt “Just stop.”
Source: Al Jazeera
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