President Donald Trump has been crowing for a week about California’s primary, accusing the state of voter fraud over the slow pace of mail-in ballot counting as Gov. Gavin Newsom issues a stark warning to politicians about “spreading election lies.”
Voters in the Golden State went to the polls a week ago on Tuesday, June 2, yet the vote count is still slowly trickling in with mail-in ballots taking longer to count, which is a completely normal part of the election process, but it’s something Trump has falsely pounced on as an example of Democrats’ “rigging” the election.
Newsom, a longtime Trump archrival, slapped back at Trump and other Republicans in a social media post Tuesday, June 9, alleging they are trying to interfere in California’s primary with what critics call their blatant election lies.
The governor, in turn, made an ominous warning about pursuing charges against this type of willful misinformation.
“Trump says voter fraud should land people in prison,” Newsom began.
“Agreed. And let’s start with the politicians spreading election lies with the goal of illegally interfering with counting ballots,” he continued.
In California, I just signed a law making that punishable with up to three years behind bars. More to come,” he stated before throwing back an acronym that Trump’s Defense Chief Pete Hegsth has thrown around.
“FAFO, Donald,” Newsom stated using a military term that means “f-ck around and find out.”
Social media erupted in support of Newsom.
“Yes, it should be illegal for a current politician serving the people of United States to knowingly lie or spread lies . Should lose their job and go to jail. Enough with them being able to knowingly lie to the American public,” a Threads user agreed.
Another poster is still worried. “They are literally rigging it through gerrymandering while forcing everyone to argue that it’s not rigged. commonly referred to as a ‘commitment trap’ or ‘rhetorical trap.’ Propaganda is powerful. They are running a masterclass. This will make it impossible to come back later with credible evidence.”
This Threads user chimed in, “Well good, so trump’s ready to go to jail now. Nobody frauds like this fool in the white house.”
Newsom’s comments follow a Truth Social post Trump made Monday, June 8, about GOP reality TV star Spencer Pratt’s campaign for Los Angeles mayor.
After the initial vote count of poll ballots, Pratt was in second place behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, but as officials began counting mail-in ballots, Pratt’s lead over progressive City Councilwoman Nithya Raman began to evaporate.
On Monday, June 8, The Associated Press declared Raman the second place finisher behind Bass and not Pratt, setting up a November runoff between Bass and Raman.
A furious Trump revealed what his mid-term strategy might be, lambasting the state and falsely accusing Democrats once again of “Rigged Elections” because he doesn’t like the outcome.
Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,” Trump falsely raged. “3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!”
Los Angeles is a heavily Democratic city, so Trump’s claims of a “rigged election” fall flat, and opponents say he’s using his playbook after his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden spreading falsehoods and lies in an attempt to undermine the primary results despite no evidence or proof.
Opponents point to Trump’s first-term chief of staff Mark Meadows as an example of true election fraud.
Meadows, another 2020 election denier, was registered to vote in three states in 2020, according to reporting from WLOS TV in western North Carolina.
Although North Carolina decided not to prosecute Meadows on state charges, courts in Georgia and Arizona did indict Meadows for attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
