President Donald Trump blasted California’s election process over the weekend after former reality television star and Republican mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt slipped to third place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary as additional ballots were counted days after Election Day.
In a fiery Truth Social post Sunday, Trump accused California officials of unfairly disadvantaging Republican candidates and warned of consequences if Democrats ultimately prevail.
“Has anybody been watching the CROOKED Election going on in California,” Trump wrote. “Two great Republican Candidates are being cheated, and so is America, which if the Dumocrats are able to fulfill their mission, great trouble and consternation will follow.”
“Watch this ‘Election’ closely!!!” he added.
Trump’s comments came after Democrat Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman overtook Pratt in the race for a spot in November’s general election. Pratt had led Raman by roughly nine percentage points on election night, but days of mail-in ballot counting steadily narrowed the gap before pushing Raman ahead.
Decision Desk HQ projected Sunday that Raman would advance to the general election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, although The Associated Press had not yet officially called the race. Prediction market Polymarket gave Raman a 99% chance of advancing as of Sunday night.
Pratt also expressed skepticism about the late shifts in vote totals.
“‘A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday…’ 43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before…? Probably nothing,” Pratt posted on X, referencing a report that Los Angeles has more than 43,000 homeless residents on an average night.
Trump doubled down Monday by resharing an X post from Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who argued California is “incapable of running free and fair elections consistent with our Constitution.”
Responding to reports that Raman was poised to secure the second runoff spot, Trump declared: “No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!”
The president has repeatedly alleged that Democrats are attempting to “steal the elections” and has announced a federal review of California’s election practices.
Concerns over California’s lengthy vote-counting process have also drawn scrutiny from federal officials. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday that California was resisting efforts to audit its voter rolls and raised questions about the state’s voter registration requirements.
“This is permitted when a voter fails to provide a Social Security number or driver’s license at registration. Our office believes this policy deserves a closer look,” Essayli wrote on X, referring to California’s acceptance of alternative forms of identification, including gym membership cards, employer IDs, insurance cards, and prescription labels for certain first-time voters.
Essayli also questioned how California maintains its voter rolls.
“We also have serious concerns about how California maintains its voter rolls. There are open questions about whether the state is promptly removing deceased voters, people who have moved, and individuals convicted of disqualifying felonies,” he said.
He further criticized California’s ballot collection laws, commonly referred to by critics as ballot harvesting.
“California allows third parties to collect and turn in ballots on voters’ behalf with few restrictions. This makes it difficult to track who actually received, completed, and submitted each ballot,” Essayli added.
The Trump administration has already filed suit against California after state officials allegedly failed to provide requested voter-roll information as part of a federal effort to verify that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote.
Meanwhile, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has also seen his early lead shrink as additional mail-in ballots continue to be counted, prompting Trump to claim both Hilton and Pratt are being “cheated” by California’s election system.
