Donald Trump has used isolated flaws discovered by US election officials to declare “cheating,” raising the prospect that he may reject the results again if he loses next week’s election.
The Republican nominee has continually refused to accept the outcome of the November 5 election, laying the groundwork for a repeat performance centered on the baseless argument that his 2020 loss to Joe Biden was rigged.
On Wednesday, Trump condemned what he called “cheating” at “large-scale levels never seen before” in Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
That came after a statement from the day before in which he claimed that “really bad’stuff'” was happening in the state, urging “Law Enforcement must do their job, immediately!!!”
Last Friday, officials in one Pennsylvania county stated that they were conducting a criminal inquiry into a batch of up to 2,500 voter registration forms that were discovered during standard screening.
Heather Adams, the county’s district attorney, stated that an outside party arranged the applications as part of a “large-scale canvassing operation.”
The revelation has reportedly prompted probes in other counties.
Josh Shapiro, the state’s Democratic governor, told CNN Tuesday night that the allegations are “more of the same” from Trump, who repeatedly tried and failed to overturn his loss to Biden.
Pennsylvania, which Trump lost by some 80,000 votes to Biden, is once again among the handful of battlegrounds expected to decide the outcome of the national race.
Polls show Trump in a statistical tie with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the state.
“I understand that Donald Trump wants to again use the same playbook where he tries to create chaos and stoke division and fear about our system,” Shapiro said.
“But again, we will have a free and fair, safe, and secure election in Pennsylvania, and the will of the people will be respected and protected,” he added.
When Trump lost in 2020, a mob of his supporters inflamed by his claims of fraud attacked the US Capitol in a violent attempt to keep him in power, and he still baselessly claims to have won that election.