California counts votes and Trump makes baseless voter fraud claims
6/8/20267 min
With his claims about California voter fraud, President Trump is returning to a familiar playbook. Is this a preview of what the midterms could look like?
We are still waiting for some results from last Tuesday's primary in California.
That election will determine who is on the ballot this fall in the races for governor, Los Angeles mayor, and key congressional districts.
But the state is one of the slowest to count votes in the country, and in the meantime, President Trump is pushing familiar – and false – claims of election fraud.
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This episode was produced by Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.
It was edited by Courtney Dorning, Christopher Intagliata and Megan Pratz.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMary Louise Kelly· Host0:00
It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, President Trump uses California's slow vote count to revive baseless claims of election fraud. It has been almost a week since Californians went to the polls, and yet several races have yet to be called. During the wait, President Trump has brought back election fraud claims, like here, speaking this past weekend with NBC's Kristen Welker on Meet the Press.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:27
It's four days- The Republicans are doing well in California ... in California. It's- No, they're not. They're, they're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up with a- That's how they, that's how they count the votes in California. You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election.
Speaker 30:42
There's... What? Do you have evidence- They're- ... to support that?
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:44
All I have to do is look. All I have to do- That's not evidence Trump later ended that interview abruptly after Welker pressed him for evidence. Your elections in this country- You went to court- We're like a third world country.
Speaker 30:55
But sir- Your elections are crooked, and you're crooked- But Mr.-
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:58
... and Meet the Press is crooked- But Mr.
Speaker 30:59
President- ...
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:59
and so is ABC and CBS and CNN.
Speaker 31:03
But Mr. President- You're one-sided, crooked network.
Donald Trump· Soundbite1:06
So let's call it quits, 'cause I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good day.
Speaker 31:09
Mr. President, let's please talk about- Consider this: With his claims about California, Trump is returning to a familiar playbook.
Mary Louise Kelly· Host1:16
Is this a preview of what the midterms could look like? [gentle music] From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly.
Speaker 41:24
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