Trump baselessly casts doubt on midterm election results

It was only a matter of time before the election denial began.

For a brief moment, it seemed President Trump might actually accept a political defeat . Democrats just delivered a sweeping rebuke to Republicans, taking control of both chambers of Congress, flipping at least seven Senate seats, and making historic gains in statehouses across the country.

But it was too good to be true. On Monday, nearly a week after the election, Trump took to Truth Social and wrote : “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong??? Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote. It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!”

And there it is. The familiar suggestion that an election he didn’t like the outcome of must somehow be illegitimate.

Now, Trump is right about one thing: The polls were wrong. But not in the way he’s suggesting. They underestimated the Democrats.

In Georgia, Democrats outperformed final polling averages. In Texas, James Talarico’s Senate victory over Ken Paxton was about 9 points stronger than polling projected. South Carolina is particularly notable: Annie Andrews won a Republican-held Senate seat after final polling averages showed Republicans narrowly ahead.

Mississippi deserves attention, too. Scott Colom’s Senate bid is extremely competitive, and if he wins, it would mark a huge shift in the state, where conservatives have dominated for nearly 150 years.

In another post, the president seemed to take issue with Texas in particular. Greg Abbott is still in office and Republicans control the legislature, so how then were Democrats able to rig that state’s elections? Gina Hinojosa defeated a three-term governor and Republicans’ redistricting efforts failed to. Mystery solved. There is no evidence of fraud, and the president is likely not planning to offer any evidence either.

You may remember earlier this year, Trump sat down with Kristen Welker and insisted the 2020 election and the California primary elections were both rigged.

TRUMP : “The election was rigged, it was a dirty election. And it’s happening again right now in California.”

WELKER: “You’ve never presented evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. Where’s the evidence to that? Republicans are doing well in California.”

TRUMP: No they’re not, they’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election. It takes four days, they’re cheating.”

WELKER : “Do you have evidence to support that?”

The exchange resulted in the president abruptly getting up and leaving the interview .

Donald Trump has learned nothing and continues to make a habit out of undermining our election process and throwing around baseless accusations. In 2016, even after winning, he falsely claimed millions of undocumented immigrants had voted illegally. In 2020, after losing to Joe Biden, he spent months claiming the election was stolen.

Remember what followed: pressure on Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find 11,780 votes , the fake elector scheme across seven states, and his demands that Mike Pence interfere with the electoral count.

Then came January 6 . The Capitol attack was not disconnected from those efforts. It happened as Congress was certifying Biden’s victory, after Trump had spent weeks telling supporters the election was stolen.

This is déjà vu in the worst way. Voters sent a message about the economy, the administration’s policies and the direction of the country. Yet instead of reflecting on why so many Americans rejected his party, Trump is once again casting doubt on the machinery.

We saw where that road led in 2020. Accept the results and make the necessary changes, or prepare for a repeat in 2028.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.