Monday, May 11, 2026

Trump threatens using ‘army’ to rig midterm elections

 

Trump threatens using ‘army’ to rig midterm elections

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/11/800036974/elections/trump-threatens-using-army-to-rig-midterm-elections/ 

Trump threatens using ‘army’ to rig midterm elections

by Oliver Willis
Staff
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A person votes in the Virginia redistricting referendum at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Attribution: APA person votes in the Virginia redistricting referendum at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, on April 21, in Alexandria, Virginia.

President Donald Trump is being criticized for his call for an “election integrity army” to fight against Democrats concerned about voter suppression.

In a post to his Truth Social account on Sunday, Trump fumed that former Attorney General Eric Holder plans to work with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on efforts to suppress the vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Trump lied and claimed that “unhinged” Democrats “will no doubt try to suppress Republican voters.”

Trump praised the Republican Party’s use of an “election integrity army” during the 2024 election cycle and added, “We will be doing the same again in 2026, but it will be much bigger and stronger.”

A cartoon by Pedro Molina of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked, with "voters" on one side and "rights" on the other.
Attribution: Pedro Molina/Tribune Content AgencyCartoon by Pedro Molina

Democratic Rep. Norma Torres of California called out Trump’s post soon after, writing, “The only thing ‘unhinged’ here is a President calling for a private ‘army’ to hover over legal voters. This blatant attempt to bully Americans out of their right to vote is pathetic. Our democracy doesn’t belong to anyone.”

Trump’s post was in reference to the April 29 announcement by Senate Democrats that they have launched a task force to protect the election and had enlisted Holder and election attorney Marc Elias.

“We know that some on the extreme right will try to rig the system,” Schumer said in a Senate speech. “Donald Trump said it, he said he can’t win the election except by rigging it. That’s more or less what he said.”

As evidence, Schumer noted Trump’s use of the FBI to raid a Georgia election office and take custody of 2020 election ballots, the election he has continually lied about and said that he won.

Trump’s post comes as poll after poll shows Democrats surging ahead of Republicans in the congressional races, where control of the House and Senate are up for grabs. Voters have been looking for an outlet to express their displeasure with Republican mismanagement of domestic and foreign policy, and the midterm races seem to be the target.

Related | Florida voters sue over ‘extreme’ new House map

Instead of correcting course, Republicans have instead tried to rewrite the borders of congressional districts to lock in their power. Voters have rebuffed these efforts in several states and Republicans have retaliated via conservative-led courts in states like Virginia to overturn the will of the people.

The GOP has a long history of voter suppression, with policies and rhetoric designed to lower turnout in areas that have historically favored the Democrats—particularly among younger voters and voters of color.  

Democrats are hoping that a repeat of past trends, when increased turnout has usually meant a Democratic win, will give their party the majority this year and grant them power of oversight of Trump.

Congressional Republicans have acted as a rubber stamp of the administration since Trump took office last year, and the right is clearly worried that is all coming to an end.

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  1. Comment by ProfessorAlbee.

    What I will never be able to understand is why the seemingly sacrosanct 'right to vote' has long been treated by today's batch of fully radicalized MAGA-infused Republicans as a politically expendable 'bargaining chip.'

  2. Comment by Notpaidtopost.

    Washington Post has a guest article today. The author says 'Republicans should grow a spine and stand up to trump, instead of letting him cut Congress out of it's leadership role.

    Most commenters said they thought what Republicans were doing was intentional. I said this idea was old news.

    We don't just need a Blue Wave, we need the Earth itself to open up and swallow Republicans whole. All of the complicit.

    Yes, I'm mad today!

  3. Comment by left MIDDLE right.

    When I read the stories title I immediately laughed and thought "Well of course he is.".

    Since the GOP managed to cheat him into the White House in 2025 he has been priming the entire Military to accept committing crimes as long as He tells them too.

  4. Comment by b3LLsb33r.

    Trump will try to steal the midterms.

    • Reply by Notpaidtopost.

      Do you suppose his little Army is called 'ICE'?

  5. Comment by Wynter.

    Turnout is a double-edged sword I found out from the 2024 election. In my area I saw new faces at the voting site and thought it might be a positive effect for the Democrats. But instead, it turned out to be a lot of MAGA first time voters that were frightened by the far right to defend Republicans. We don't need suppress the conservative far right voters. But we need to blunt whatever fearmongering the Republicans try to trot out just before the election. And they will try to foment some electoral threat that needs to be fought by their scared MAGA followers. We need to keep the Democrats message loud and clear and have it resonated across the public. Make the threats of election fraud clearly coming from Republicans in office currently. There is more than enough evidence out there in the public sphere to show that our current administration is putting their thumb on the scales in a highly illegal manner.

  6. Comment by Liberal Thinking.

    This is the kind of situation where the Army should threaten to arrest Criminal Trump if he issues them an illegal order.

    • Reply by Wynter.

      If the higher ups hadn't been already threatened and replaced, then maybe that could have happened. For now, it looks like uniformed personnel need to document each and every war crime and help it find its way into the hands of the press.

  7. Comment by Judge Moonbox.

    Typically, people reading the Declaration of Independence stop with "the pursuit of happiness." I think we should remind them that the very next clause says that "to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

    In the decades we've been trying to put these glittering promises into practice, we've found that free and fair elections are the best way to ascertain that the government still has that consent. While there are legitimate exceptions for noncitizens and the underage, we need to keep the voter rolls open to everyone else.

    I've been following Republican activists like Hans von Spakovsky who think that they shouldn't have to allow the full participation of the electorate; that the Republican Party is better off if they can use gimmicks to disenfranchise people. That's the twisted sense that Trump uses when he talks about "election integrity."

  8. Comment by healejd.

    I work the polls in my state.

    I am prepared to protect the vote from disruption.

    I am concerned but determined that the rules will be followed and that no one will interfere or be interfered with while I am on the job.

    We are neutral in this regard.

    I am not going to watch anyone or anything deny voters, no matter who they are, the ability to express their wishes as to who leads them, who serves them and who represents their best interests.

    This is my promise.

    If anyone tries to interfere, they will be dealt with professionally and with no fear or favor. That is Democracy. That is our right.

    The MAGA's and the P2025 fascist goons will not be given room to abuse my voting station as long as I am working there in service to my fellow Americans.

    Will you be there?

    Will you work the polling stations as election workers assuring that the voters are served with dignity and respect as the owners of our Democracy?

    We need everyone who is willing to do the right thing. We need each other to assure our voices are heard. Will you give your time and effort to your fellow Americans on voting day?

    Be of service. Be engaged. It is your duty.

    • Reply by Kassidy Burns.

      Thank you for the work that you do, and thank you for reading!

    • Reply by Wynter.

      You need to coordinate with your local police on the process if someone from an outside agency attempts to circumvent your election processes. Basically, a 911 for immediately getting the local authorities involved in restraining any external government officials from interfering in a locally run election. Because something will happen and you must be prepared if it does. Everyone needs to be on the same page, so it doesn't make you look like the criminal in this.

    • Reply by BobRR.

      BRAVO!

    • Reply by squirrelyone.

      Our poll worker training sessions have a whole section dedicated to what poll watchers can and cannot do, along with code words to call the auditor's office for help if we can't safely dial 911.

      As the auditor's office staff kept trying to get into everyone's heads: they can't help us if we don't let them know something's wrong. Or just plain weird. I guess one of our polling places a couple of elections ago had a group of people in zombie makeup just come in and wander around the room moaning, and no one was sure if it constituted an emergency. Was it worth dialing 911 or calling the office? The office said yes and was miffed that the precinct election officers hadn't called immediately.

      If you're voting and feel threatened, call 911. The election workers won't mind. We've probably already done it ourselves, or called a code word to the county to have them dispatch help.

    • Reply by Notpaidtopost.

      I'm a poll worker, too. My state has laws, which are only on which ID'S one must have to vote, and include a procedure to vote a provisional ballot anyway, then later prove you are registered at election headquaters, in case there is a problem.

      We have never had a problem during an election. I just can't imagine that. And it better not happen now. If ICE or anybody else wacko shows up, I'm leaving. Period.

  9. Comment by GrannyCT.

    When you can't win on the merits, call out the army I guess!

  10. Comment by MessagingMatters.

    You know who wouldn't have done that? Hillary Clinton. Kamala Harris. Al Gore. John Kerry.

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