{"id":349509,"date":"2026-06-06T13:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/349509\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T13:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T13:36:10","slug":"what-trump-has-said-about-california-elections-as-fraud-probes-launched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/349509\/","title":{"rendered":"What Trump Has Said About California Elections As Fraud Probes Launched"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal investigation into California<\/a>\u2019s election<\/a> process has opened after President Donald Trump<\/a> made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud following the state\u2019s June 2 primary, where vote counting is still ongoing.<\/p>\n

The U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles<\/a> confirmed Friday that it had launched \u201cmultiple election fraud investigations\u201d regarding California\u2019s elections and had dispatched a prosecutor to the county\u2019s vote-counting center. The state\u2019s ballot processing system has long been criticized by some conservatives for its extended counting timelines.<\/p>\n

The announcement came just one day after Trump made baseless allegations of mass fraud<\/a> linked to the continuing tabulation of votes in the most populous U.S. state, which is home to more than 23 million registered voters. Election observers have warned that such claims, made before final results are certified<\/a>, risk fueling misinformation and public distrust.<\/p>\n

Read More on News<\/p>\n

Late-counted Democratic-leaning mail ballots have been steadily narrowing the margins for candidates backed by Trump in key races, including the contests for governor and Los Angeles mayor.<\/p>\n

The developments were confirmed by U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, Trump\u2019s appointee as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, and included a visit to Los Angeles County\u2019s ballot tabulation center. <\/p>\n

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email outside of regular working hours.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.Trump Claims Election Fraud<\/p>\n

Trump added to his allegations on Friday during a roundtable discussion in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where he suggested, without evidence, that Democrats were manipulating the vote count.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at what\u2019s happening\u2014it\u2019s getting tighter and tighter and tighter,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd the people who were supposed to win, bad things are happening. It\u2019s a crooked state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later the same day, speaking to reporters at the White House, he doubled down on his claims, saying that election officials had uncovered suspicious ballots during the counting process. Trump said election officials in California had \u201cfound a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the days following the primary, Trump also issued a series of posts on Truth Social, repeatedly alleging fraud and irregularities in California\u2019s vote count. His messages focused heavily on mail-in ballots and the pace of tabulation in the state.<\/p>\n

On June 5, he wrote: “Watch California, everybody! Our Election process is as bad, or worse, than any Third World Country. The biggest difference is, they count their Votes much faster\u2014they don\u2019t wait seven days to tell you who won, rigging the Election during each and every one of them. Americans are ashamed of what is happening!\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 4, he posted multiple times, including claims that Democrats were deliberately manipulating results: \u201cLook what\u2019s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the Vote. I hope the Republicans are watching so that they can finally pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!\u201d<\/p>\n

He also wrote: \u201cThere\u2019s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???\u201d<\/p>\n

In another post the same day, he said: \u201cThe Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS\u201d<\/p>\n

California’s Voting System<\/p>\n

California remains a reliably Democratic state in presidential and statewide elections, with consistent margins in recent cycles. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by a wide margin, securing roughly two-thirds of the vote, driven in large part by heavily populated urban counties including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Turnout in that election was notably high, boosted by expanded mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mail ballots now make up a significant share of votes in California, typically around 80 percent, and under state law, ballots can arrive up to seven days after Election Day as long as they are postmarked on time.<\/p>\n

For primaries, such as this week in the gubernatorial and LA mayoral elections, the state uses a \u201cjungle\u201d primary system, in which the top two advance to the next stage regardless of party affiliation. This structure often produces drawn-out counting periods<\/a>, particularly in close races.<\/p>\n

Last month, California\u2019s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom wrote to election officials thanking them for their work, while cautioning that prolonged counting periods can fuel false narratives. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe must acknowledge that the longer the vote count takes, the more mis- and dis-information spreads,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat means we must do all that we can to tabulate votes quickly and accurately. Time is of the essence in preventing election lies from taking root.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those concerns have been repeated by election observers. \u201cConducting elections with integrity and ensuring that every eligible vote is counted are fundamental to maintaining public confidence in our democracy,\u201d Mike DuHaime of the Democracy Defense Project, a bipartisan effort to combat election misinformation, said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, prolonged delays in ballot tabulation, such as those that have become increasingly common in California, can undermine public trust and create unnecessary uncertainty around election outcomes,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer election results remain unresolved, the greater the opportunity for misinformation and speculation to spread online, eroding confidence in our electoral process. Accuracy must always remain the highest priority, but accuracy and timeliness are not mutually exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Election Fraud Claims<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s latest claims echo a broad pattern of voter fraud<\/a> allegations made following his 2020 presidential defeat, when he and his allies alleged that the election had been \u201cstolen.\u201d Those claims included accusations involving mail-in ballots, voting machines, and irregularities in key swing states.<\/p>\n

More than 60 legal challenges were brought in the aftermath of that election across states including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan. <\/p>\n

Courts repeatedly rejected the claims, citing insufficient evidence or lack of legal standing. Many cases were dismissed outright, while others failed on their merits, including before judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal investigation into California\u2019s election process has opened after President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims of widespread…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,536,204,28492,457,26296],"class_list":["post-349509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-election","tag-election-fraud","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-voter-fraud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}