President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his easily disprovable claim to have won California’s electoral votes as he suggested that a Republican ex-reality television star running for mayor of Los Angeles could have trouble winning because of “dishonest” elections in the Golden State.
Trump’s Remarks to Reporters
Trump made the bizarre comments to reporters before boarding Air Force One en route to Connecticut and a planned commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Asked about GOP mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, Trump said he’d like to see the former The Hills star “do well” and called him “a character” and a “big MAGA person” before pivoting to unsubstantiated accusations about California’s elections.
“If you have a rigged vote out there, that's the problem. The votes are rigged. You have a really rigged vote in California. You have all the mail in ballots, everything else. Very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest,” he said.
“If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California, because I do great with Hispanics, but it's a rigged vote.”
Mail-in Ballot Grievances
The president continued by repeating an oft-employed grievance about the Golden State’s use of postal ballots, which he and other Republicans often suggest are used to manipulate election results even though California has voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in statewide office since the 1990s.
“They send out 38 million votes. Nobody knows where they're going, of course. The Democrats disproportionately, Democrats get many more votes, some get eight votes, they get eight cards, and Republicans have to call in, 'Where's my card?’ — it's a rigged system, one of the most, not the worst,” he said.
He added later that California was “one of the most dishonest states for voting.”
Message to Coast Guard Cadets
Trump also told reporters his message to graduating Coast Guard cadets would be to “enjoy your life” and said Americans don’t realize how important the Coast Guard is until disasters such as hurricanes hit.
“I remember the big hurricane in Texas, where these kids go on boats, and they're going to the waves that are 20 times higher than the boat ... these massive waves to save people that were inside, and you don't realize it, but boy, they are good, they are good seamen, they are unbelievable,” he said.
