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President Donald Trump stormed out of an interview<\/a> with \u201cMeet the Press\u201d that aired on Sunday morning, after refusing to provide substantive evidence that primary elections California are being \u201crigged\u201d and chastising the storied interview program and host Kristen Welker as \u201ccrooked.\u201d<\/p>\n The president insisted, without evidence, Republican candidates were \u201cdropping fast\u201d in California due to a \u201crigged\u201d election.<\/p>\n Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n The spat began after Trump claimed, without evidence, the 2020 election was \u201crigged\u201d and that \u201cit\u2019s happening again right now in California,\u201d where high-profile races still have not been called after Tuesday\u2019s elections as some ballots are still being counted.<\/p>\n Welker responded by noting \u201cRepublicans are doing well in California\u201d\u2014Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton is currently in second place<\/a> in the state\u2019s jungle primary, which would advance him to the general election in November, while Spencer Pratt, a Republican former reality television star is currently in second place<\/a> in the Los Angeles mayoral primary.<\/p>\n \u201cNo they\u2019re not,\u201d Trump retorted, insisting \u201cthey\u2019re dropping fast because it\u2019s a rigged election\u201d\u2014likely referring to the recent surge in votes<\/a> for Democratic mayoral candidate Nithya Raman that came in over the weekend (mail-in votes are still being counted in California).<\/p>\n When asked if he has any evidence about election fraud in California, Trump said \u201call I have to do is look.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump called election officials in California \u201ccrooked,\u201d before also insisting Welker, \u201cMeet the Press\u201d and the press at large were also \u201ccrooked\u201d\u2014specifically naming ABC, CBS and CNN as well.<\/p>\n TANGENT<\/p>\n Trump also noted the weather, which interfered with the production, saying \u201cI sat in the rain with you for an hour\u201d\u2014the interview was filmed in a barn in Wisconsin, where Trump held a rally with farmers<\/a> in the swing state on Friday.<\/p>\n Key Background<\/p>\n California\u2019s primary elections were held last Tuesday. The state uses a \u201cjungle primary\u201d or open primary system, where the top two candidates from any party advance to the general election in November. Without providing specific evidence, Trump declared there was \u201cBIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California\u201d in a Thursday post on Truth Social<\/a>, calling for a federal investigation and criticizing the state for how long it expected to take to count the votes. One day later, Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, announced<\/a> his office has \u201cmultiple election fraud investigations\u201d ongoing, but declined to provide any further details about the probes. Essayli also said he was conducting a \u201ccomprehensive audit\u201d of the state\u2019s voter rolls, but claimed California has \u201cstonewalled every effort to verify that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Why Does California Take So Long to Count Votes?<\/p>\n California is the most populous state in the U.S., with over 39 million residents, according to the Census Bureau<\/a>. It also has a strong universal mail-in voting law. Californians were allowed to drop off a mail-in ballot any time between May 5 and when the polls closed on June 2. Ballots are counted up to seven days after the polls close, so long as they are postmarked by the election date.<\/p>\n News Peg<\/p>\n Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general, member of Congress, and most recently the secretary of Health and Human Services under former President Joe Biden, officially advanced to the general election, the Associated Press<\/a> reported Friday. Becerra, a Democrat, came out in the lead in the gubernatorial primary<\/a>, with over 1.8 million votes (about 27% of ballots cast). Hilton, a Republican former Fox News host, remained in second place with about 26.1% of the vote, while Democrat billionaire Tom Steyer trailed with about 21.3% as of Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n Further Reading<\/p>\n