(AFP) – President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would respect the results of the US midterm elections “if they’re honest,” in what appeared to be a fresh bid to sow doubt ahead of next week’s crucial vote. Trump has ramped up his baseless, years-old claims of mass voter fraud as polls show Republicans could lose control of Congress in Tuesday’s elections.
“I will, if they’re honest elections,” Trump told reporters when asked if he would respect the results of the midterms, as he headed on a campaign trip to Texas. The 80-year-old president also gave a guarded pledge to work with the rival Democrats if Republicans lose their grip on the House of Representatives and Senate.
“We’ll figure a way. Look, I have strong veto. I hope that that won’t be the case, but if it is, that’s happened before with many presidents,” Trump said at Joint Base Andrews near Washington. “You have strong veto, and you end up working on deals.”
Republicans fear a Democrat “blue wave” in the midterms as voters punish them over inflation stoked by oil prices that have soared since Trump launched his war on Iran. Trump has held near-daily rallies across the United States over the past month to increase turnout among his MAGA base, saying he is the only one who can stave off defeat.
His third visit to Texas in the past month reflects those concerns, with polls showing a close senate race in a state that has been solidly Republican for more than 30 years. Trump said that in Texas on Tuesday he would receive a “gift” from Venezuela — whose leader Nicolas Maduro was toppled in a US military operation in January — of a tanker containing one million barrels of oil.
He will be accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Latin America-hawk who is making a rare foray onto the campaign trail ahead of what many believe will be a presidential run in 2028. But Trump has in recent days also stepped up the voter fraud allegations that have obsessed him since he lost the 2020 US presidential election.
After his loss to Joe Biden, Trump stoked up protesters who then attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to stop the final election certification. Some critics now fear Trump is paving the way to challenge the results of the midterms, or even bring in some kind of emergency powers. Trump on Monday offered a $1 million cash reward for anyone with information leading to convictions for voter fraud.
– Kent Nishimura with Danny Kemp in Washington
© 2024 AFP
