Trump says Republicans should ‘nationalise’ voting in at least 15 places

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Feb 2 that Republicans should “nationalise” and “take over” voting in at least 15 unspecified places, reiterating his false claims that the US elections are marred by widespread fraud.

In a podcast interview with his former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) deputy director Dan Bongino, Mr Trump – who continues to falsely claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of fraud – provided no details on what he intended.

Referring to immigrants, Mr Trump said on The Dan Bongino Show: “These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. And you know, (it’s) amazing that the Republicans aren’t tougher on it.

“The Republicans should say, we want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalise the voting.”

While he did not specify the locations, he said: “We have states that are so crooked, and they’re counting votes. We have states that I won that show I didn’t win.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification of Mr Trump’s remarks.

The comments were met with pushback.

US Representative Don Bacon, a Republican, said on social media platform X: “I opposed nationalising elections when Speaker Pelosi wanted major changes to elections in all 50 states. I’ll oppose this now as well.”

Separately, Michigan Department of State spokesperson Cheri Hardmon said in a statement: “The US Constitution puts states in charge of elections, not the federal government. That’s the law.”

Mr Bongino returned to his podcast after leaving the FBI in January.

FBI search

Mr Trump’s comments came days after the

FBI searched an election office in Georgia’s Fulton County

for 2020 records, as the US leader continues to press false claims of fraud in his 2020 defeat – an accusation rejected by courts, state governments and members of his former administration.

Mr Trump, in a departure from law enforcement norms, spoke to some of the FBI agents by phone the day after the raid during a meeting they had with National Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard, the New York Times reported on Feb 2.

The US will hold midterm elections in November, which will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

Under the US Constitution, elections are conducted by states and local jurisdictions. REUTERS