U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Sunday that Democrats will stop Donald Trump from trying to steal this year’s midterm elections.
Jeffries’ comments drew widespread attention after Trump said Republicans should “take over voting rights.” The U.S. Constitution gives states the power to set election rules and says Congress can pass laws setting requirements for federal elections. The Constitution does not give the president the power to decide how elections are conducted.
Related: Trump suggests Republicans should ‘take over’ elections to protect party
“What Donald Trump wants to do is try to nationalize the election — which translates to: steal the election. We’re not going to let that happen,” Jeffries said in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union program. He added that so far, Democrats have successfully blocked Trump’s efforts to federalize the National Guard and pushed back against Republican efforts across the country to redraw congressional district boundaries to their benefit.
“This will be a free and fair election,” Jeffries said. It “will be conducted like every other election, with states and localities having the ability to enforce the law.”
The Trump administration has for months filed lawsuits against states, suggesting they improperly maintained voter rolls, casting doubt on the integrity of this year’s midterm elections. Last month, the FBI also conducted an unprecedented raid on elections offices in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing ballots and other voter information related to the 2020 election. Fraud claims in Fulton County have been debunked multiple times, yet Trump continues to repeat false claims against the county.
In a subsequent interview with CNN, Jeffries condemned Trump’s refusal to apologize for racist posts on his “Truth Society” account that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Amid widespread outcry, the White House removed the post on Friday and said a staff member was responsible for posting it.
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“He absolutely needs to apologize. This was a sickening video and the president has been rightly, appropriately and forcefully condemned by people across the country,” Jeffries said. “Democrats and even a handful of Republicans are finally showing some courage in pushing back against the president’s vicious, bottom-line behavior.”
California Sen. Adam Schiff also said Trump was clearly trying to interfere in the election and questioned why Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was involved in the Fulton County raid.
“He fully intends to try to overturn the election. He’s going to do whatever it takes to suppress the vote. If he loses the vote, and I think Republicans are now anticipating that they’re going to suffer a real crushing defeat in the midterms, he’s prepared to try to do some kind of action to overturn the results. We really shouldn’t be questioning that,” Schiff said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I think all of this is about sending a message. The message is: ‘We are not going to tolerate or accept an election that we lose.'”
