The ballot is “rigged”: the recurring accusation of Donald Trump

When Barack Obama is re-elected, with 51.06% of the vote against 47.2% for Mitt Romney, Donald Trump launches angry tweets: “This election is a sham and a masquerade. We are not a democracy! “

Primary 2016: “rigged” rules

During the Republican primaries of 2016, the candidate Trump accuses his opponent Ted Cruz of having cheated after the latter’s victory in Iowa.

He calls for a new ballot or the outright cancellation of votes for the senator. He accuses the Republican Party of blocking his nomination and denounces “rigged” rules for the attribution of delegates.

At the beginning of April, Ted Cruz sweeps Wisconsin, with 49% of the vote against 14% for Donald Trump. The Trump team then describes its rival as “a Trojan horse for the party leaders, who are trying to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump.”

Presidential 2016: accept the result? ” I will see ”

Become the Republican candidate, Donald Trump multiplies accusations of fraud during his campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton, especially when he is in difficulty.

“Believe me, we will have to be careful on November 8, because this election will be rigged,” he said on Fox News on August 1, 2016.

“Of course, vast electoral fraud occurs before the ballot and on election day. Why are Republican officials denying it? What naivety! “, He tweets, while he is challenged by a video in which he claims to catch women by their gender.

He encourages his supporters to monitor the polling stations “in certain areas” (the predominantly democratic black neighborhoods), urging them to “prevent Hillary the scoundrel from rigging this election!” “.

On October 20, Donald Trump dramatically breaks with American democratic tradition, refusing to commit to accepting the election results.

“I will see then,” he declared to the dumbfounded audience of the last televised presidential debate.

November 2016: “I won the popular vote”

Elected president, Donald Trump claims to have won not only the majority of the voters, but also the popular vote. Hillary Clinton is actually credited with 48.18% of the vote, compared to 46.09% for Trump.

“In addition to a landslide victory in the electoral college (of the grand voters), I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” he says.

Despite his victory, he considers the ballot tainted: “Serious fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California – why do the media not talk about it? Serious bias – big problem! “

Summer 2020: haro on postal voting

Donald Trump is sowing doubt all summer on the validity of the election, undermined according to him by the importance of postal voting due to the covid pandemic.

It will be the “most rigged ballot in the history of the United States,” he repeats.

Lags behind in the polls behind Joe Biden, he calls on September 24 for a cancellation of the ballots sent by post: “Let’s get rid of these ballots and it will be very peaceful.”

That same day, he refused to commit to guaranteeing a non-violent transmission of power. “We’re going to have to see what’s going on,” he said from the White House.

November 2020: Democrats try to ‘steal’ the election

On election night, Donald Trump accuses the Democrats of trying to “steal” his “great victory” from the US presidential election.

“We are ahead and far away, but they are trying to steal the election. We will never let them do it, ”wrote the president on Twitter.

Then, during a speech, he claims to have “won” the election despite the count still in progress.

“Honestly, we won the election,” Mr. Trump said in a brief address from the living rooms of the White House. He evokes a “fraud” and announces that he intends to seize the Supreme Court.