{"id":356077,"date":"2026-06-11T10:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356077\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T10:26:13","slug":"trump-raises-specter-of-fraud-with-baseless-accusations-about-california-elections-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356077\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump raises specter of fraud with baseless accusations about California elections | U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump was displeased with the outcome of the California primary elections<\/a>. Convinced his intervention was decisive, he insists that without the pressure he exerted in recent days on behalf of the Republican candidate for governor, Steve Hilton, he would not have advanced to the November runoff, where he will face the candidate backed by the Democratic establishment, Xavier Becerra<\/a>. \u201cBut the only reason they approved Steve Hilton, it was going to be two weeks, they said. And then they approved it that night because the heat was on them because they\u2019re cheating dogs,\u201d the president said Wednesday<\/a> from the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

Trump was referring to how Hilton led the count on election night but steadily lost ground as outstanding ballots were tallied. Days earlier he had already called the elections \u201crigged\u201d and \u201ccorrupt.\u201d He lost his patience when an NBC reporter reminded him there is no evidence supporting those claims. \u201cThey\u2019re cheating on the election. All I have to do is look… and I listen to people and let\u2019s see what happens,\u201d the president responded angrily<\/a>. He then rose from his seat and ended the exchange.<\/p>\n

Democrats were expected to start as favorites in a state that for decades has largely backed that party. The response from Republicans was also predictable: in recent years they have promoted the narrative that their opponents resort to electoral fraud to win public office. U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles Bill Essayli stoked that theory on Monday by saying charges are likely to be filed against people for alleged election fraud in California, although no charges have been announced so far. His remarks align with complaints made by Trump and other Republican leaders, who say California\u2019s voter rolls contain irregularities and insist they are \u201cdirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the race for California governor, Becerra consolidated his lead with 2.39 million votes, or 27.9% of the total, when 91% of ballots had been counted. Hilton had 2.13 million votes (25.5%) and secured his spot in the November runoff. Both surpassed Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer<\/a>, who spent more than $200 million of his personal fortune on the campaign.<\/p>\n

\"ElDemocratic candidate for California governor Xavier Becerra on Tuesday.Etienne Laurent (AP Photo\/Etienne Laurent)<\/p>\n

The outcome matched what polls had predicted, but that was not enough to silence the suspicions and theories promoted by Republican circles. \u201cDo you think it\u2019s appropriate that they have an election and five days later, they\u2019re nowhere close to picking a winner?\u201d Trump said Wednesday. \u201cThey\u2019re crooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polls were also accurate in the race for Los Angeles mayor. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass<\/a>, a Democrat, received 43.3% of the vote and advanced to a runoff against city councilor Nithya Raman, also a Democrat, who rose in the count to reach 29%. The result left out Republican Spencer Pratt, who finished third with 25.5% of the vote. Pratt had trailed Bass in the early counts on election night. That reversal has fueled suspicions among his supporters. So far he has not conceded, despite 98% of ballots having been tallied.<\/p>\n

Tech magnate Elon Musk<\/a> also added fuel on Sunday to the unsupported allegations of fraud disadvantaging Pratt. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX posted several messages questioning the \u201cstatistical impossibility\u201d of Raman overtaking the Republican candidate. He also shared an X user\u2019s post suggesting Pratt had received no votes during an update that added 24,000 ballots. The theory was debunked by the U.S. Attorney himself. \u201cWe reviewed official county records. The claim is false,\u201d Essayli wrote on his X account<\/a>. \u201cEach candidate received votes in every update.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cred mirage\u201d<\/p>\n

Experts call this phenomenon the \u201cred mirage.\u201d On election night, Republican candidates often appear to hold a solid lead that then fades over hours or days. That happens because California accepts mail ballots as long as they bear the postmark of election day, which extends the counting. At the same time, the most populous urban counties \u2014 traditional Democratic strongholds \u2014 need more time to process millions of ballots. When those votes are finally counted, the margins can change the picture that initially emerged.<\/p>\n

\"ElRepublican candidate for California governor Steve Hilton on Tuesday.Benjamin Hanson (AP Photo\/Benjamin Hanson)<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Essayli, however, argues that California\u2019s electoral system has vulnerabilities. On Friday he announced on X that his office has \u201cmultiple election fraud investigations underway,\u201d although he offered no details about the cases and provided no public evidence. According to the official, the state\u2019s voter rolls include records of deceased people and of voters who no longer live in California. He also claims verification mechanisms are insufficient to prevent undocumented immigrants from registering and voting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost anyone can register to vote in California. You don\u2019t need a Social Security number or a driver\u2019s license. [You can vote with] a gym membership, a prescription label, a work ID and, my favorite, a health insurance card. And it turns out California provides health insurance to undocumented immigrants,\u201d Essayli said in a recent interview on conservative commentator Glenn Beck\u2019s program.<\/p>\n

Essayli\u2019s office has pointed to an isolated case as an example of alleged election fraud: a woman who for years collected signatures for ballot initiatives and was accused of paying up to $3 to homeless people living in Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles in exchange for backing her causes and registering to vote. According to the prosecutor\u2019s office, she was paid for each new voter she registered. Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, 64, is expected to plead guilty in the coming days to a related federal charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s response<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Department of Justice has sued the state of California seeking access to an audit of its voter rolls, arguing it needs to detect possible irregularities. The case has reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, while the state says the federal request constitutes undue interference in its electoral responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Shortly before the primary elections, Governor Gavin Newsom<\/a> signed a law he said was designed to shield the vote from possible interference by Trump. The law bars anyone, including federal agents, from accessing voter rolls or election technology without a court order. \u201cWe have to be prepared for everything,\u201d Newsom said, arguing the measure responds to a \u201clegitimate anxiety\u201d generated by a president who, in his view, \u201cdoes not believe in free and fair elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic leaders say the president has attempted to interfere in electoral matters after the FBI seized ballots earlier this year from the most populous county in Georgia, which leans Democratic. The Department of Justice has also sought access to election materials in counties in Arizona and Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump says voter fraud should land people in prison. Agreed. And let\u2019s start with the politicians spreading election lies with the goal of illegally interfering with counting ballots,\u201d the governor wrote on his X account<\/a> Tuesday. \u201cIn California, I just signed a law making that punishable with up to 3 years behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump was displeased with the outcome of the California primary elections. Convinced his intervention was decisive,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1956,7,9,8,536,1611,1055,457,795],"class_list":["post-356077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-arizona","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-elon-musk","tag-fbi","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-michigan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356077","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=356077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}