Donald Trump has intensified attacks on the United States electoral system ahead of this year’s midterm elections, calling on Republicans to “nationalise” voting and repeating his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
The U.S. president, who continues to refuse to acknowledge his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, has proposed shifting responsibility for organising elections away from some states and placing it under federal control.
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least, many, 15 places.’ The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” Trump said during a podcast interview this week with Dan Bongino. The remarks drew swift condemnation from Democrats and came as Republicans face the prospect of losing control of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections.
Polls show weak approval ratings for Trump in his second term, while Republicans have suffered a series of defeats in recent local elections.
Despite repeated court rulings and official confirmations validating the 2020 election results, Trump has continued to push unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
“I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday when asked about his comments on nationalising elections.
Trump expanded on the idea in an interview with NBC News aired on Wednesday, February 4, alleging that “there are some areas in our country that are extremely corrupt.” He added that if elections “can’t be done properly and timely, then something else has to happen.”
Legal scholars have warned that Trump’s comments raise serious constitutional concerns. “The Constitution clearly says that states are the ones that do the running” of elections, said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School. “There is no debate about this.”
Levitt, who previously served in the administrations of former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said the system reflects the country’s size, separation of powers and safeguards against corruption.
Trump, who has warned that he could face a third impeachment if Republicans lose control of Congress, has shown little sign of backing down.
The 79-year-old has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was rigged, despite rulings by multiple courts rejecting the allegation. “It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that,” Trump told world leaders at the Davos forum in January. “People will soon be prosecuted for what they did.”
Since returning to office last year, Trump has pushed presidential authority to unprecedented levels, according to critics.
On January 28, the FBI seized hundreds of boxes of ballots and election-related materials in Georgia as part of a controversial investigation into Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state.
The operation was overseen by Tulsi Gabbard, whose role traditionally focuses on foreign threats rather than domestic election matters.
The US Justice Department has also filed lawsuits in around 20 states seeking access to voting records. Trump’s administration has falsely claimed that undocumented migrants are voting illegally in large numbers.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, said the actions were “part of a broader strategy to, at least, cast doubt on the validity of the upcoming elections. At worst, it suggests he may try to use the federal government to actually interfere in how states run elections in 2026,” Hasen told AFP.
Civil rights groups have also raised alarm. The NAACP accused Trump’s administration of “looking to exhaust our nation with these deplorable and unconstitutional antics in hopes that we will grow tired and concede.”
Some critics fear the president could attempt to use law enforcement or even the military to influence the midterm elections. Such rhetoric has been echoed by some of Trump’s allies.
“We’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November,” said Steve Bannon, a leading figure in the “Make America Great Again” movement. “And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
