Trump Stokes "Election Fraud" Claims: Preparing for Midterm Defeat?

[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump is once again stoking allegations of election fraud, this time questioning the results of the recent Los Angeles mayoral primary. With public opinion in the U.S. souring due to the protracted war with Iran, some observers suggest this is a preemptive move in case of a defeat in the upcoming midterm elections in November.

Kim Yong-tae reports from Washington.

[Reporter]

The Los Angeles mayoral primary was held last week.

Pratt, the Republican candidate endorsed by President Trump, was running in second place early in the vote count but slipped to third as mail-in ballots were tallied.

Ultimately, he failed to advance to the runoff, which is limited to the top two candidates. Trump claimed that "something impossible" had happened, asserting that it was the same type of election fraud he alleged in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (NBC Interview, June 7): It was a rigged election, a dirty election. The same thing is happening in California right now. (But you have never provided evidence that the 2020 election was rigged, have you?) Look at what is happening in California.]

When the host pointed out that there was no evidence of election fraud, Trump became agitated and cut the interview short.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (NBC Interview, June 7): The election was rigged, and you (NBC) are crooked. ABC, CBS, and CNN are the same. You are biased and corrupt news organizations. Let's stop. I can't do this anymore.]

Trump recently appointed Bill Pultie, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a loyalist, as the Acting Director of National Intelligence, which oversees 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. He is reportedly hoping that Pultie will find evidence to support his claims of election fraud.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President (June 4): Pultie is smart. He might find something regarding election fraud.]

With the midterm elections approaching in November, rising oil prices and falling approval ratings due to the war with Iran have prompted Trump to attempt to rally his base.

There is speculation that if the Republican Party suffers a defeat, Trump may refuse to accept the results by leaning on his claims of election fraud.

Following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, his hardline supporters, who agreed with his theories of election fraud, stormed the Capitol.

(Reported by Park Eun-ha | Video by Kim Byung-jik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.