Trump suggests he may refuse to acknowledge defeat

Photo: Chip Somodevilla Getty Images Agence France-Presse Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump greets supporters during a campaign event at the Rocky Mount Event Center on October 30, 2024 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Agence France-Presse in Washington

Posted yesterday at 14:33 Updated yesterday at 15:28

• United States

Donald Trump took advantage of irregularities noted by the authorities to claim that “cheating” was already underway in the US presidential election on November 5, suggesting that he could, as in 2020, refuse to recognize his defeat if he were defeated.

The Republican candidate, who has never stopped claiming that his defeat four years earlier against Democratic President Joe Biden was due to fraud, has systematically refused to commit to recognizing the result of the election this time.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump denounced “cheating” on “a scale never seen before” in Pennsylvania, one of the seven swing states that are expected to decide the election.

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The day before, he had claimed on social media that “unsightly things” were happening in the state and called on police “to do their job, now.”

On Friday, Pennsylvania county prosecutors announced they were investigating a batch of 2,500 voter registration applications that contained inaccurate identity information.

County prosecutor Heather Adams said the applications had been collected by a canvassing group electoral.

Investigations are reportedly underway in other counties following the revelations, according to local media. The incident has also sparked a surge in inaccurate information and videos on social media, local authorities overseeing the election have warned.

“Over the past 24 hours, we have seen multiple videos shared online that lack context or are inaccurate, leading to false narratives. […] It is critical that voters get their information from reliable sources,” Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said in a daily briefing.

“The spread of videos and other information that lacks context, the sharing of half-truths on social media, or even outright lies, are harmful to our democracy,” he added.

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Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, said on CNN on Tuesday that Mr. Trump was just repeating “the same thing over and over again” with his accusations.

The former president lost this state by only 80,000 votes to Joe Biden in 2020.

Donald Trump is tied with Vice President Kamala Harris for next week's election.

The Republican candidate wants to “use his usual strategy, where he creates chaos and stirs up division and fear,” Mr. Shapiro accused.

On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters, excited by his claims of fraud, stormed the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of the election won by Joe Biden.