President Donald Trump told a podcast audience on Monday that Republicans should "nationalize" and "take over" voting operations in at least 15 unspecified locations, repeating his long-standing and false contention that the 2020 election was compromised by widespread fraud. He did not outline how such a takeover would work or identify the places he had in mind.
Speaking on "The Dan Bongino Show," Trump asserted without evidence that immigrants were being brought into the country to vote illegally, and faulted Republicans for not taking tougher action. "These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. And you know, amazing that the Republicans aren’t tougher on it," he said. He followed that by urging his party to seize control of voting in multiple jurisdictions: "The Republicans should say, we want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting."
When pressed for specifics, the president did not name the affected states or localities. He maintained that some states that counted votes were "so crooked" and asserted, again without supporting evidence, that there were places that reported he lost although he said he had won.
The White House did not immediately provide clarification of Trump’s comments when asked.
Trump made these remarks in an interview with Dan Bongino, who recently left the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has returned to hosting his podcast. The president has repeatedly alleged fraud in the 2020 election, a claim that courts, state authorities and members of his former administration have rejected.
The comments arrived days after federal agents executed a search of an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seeking records related to the 2020 election. The FBI search has been part of inquiries tied to those post-election matters that the president has publicly challenged.
According to reporting, Trump departed from standard law enforcement protocol by speaking by cellphone with some FBI agents the day after the Georgia raid, during a meeting they held with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. That report was published on Monday.
Looking ahead, the United States will hold midterm elections in November that will determine control of Congress for the next two years. Under the U.S. Constitution, the administration of elections is conducted by state and local governments.
Context note: The president’s calls for nationalizing voting and his repeated claims about the 2020 election were presented without supporting details in the interview. The FBI action in Georgia and the reported contact between the president and agents add to ongoing public attention on post-2020 election disputes.