President Donald Trump used the controversial turn in Spencer Pratt’s election results to put pressure on a US Attorney in California, claiming it helped saved Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton from a primary loss.
Trump spoke at a rally Tuesday in Pennsylvania where he lamented the loss of Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Pratt, whose viral run attracted strong support from Republicans and independents.
Pratt’s loss — where he had an Election Day second-place lead that slipped after mail ballots were counted — fueled speculation of voter manipulation.
Trump took part in that speculation and blasted California’s notoriously slow vote-counting process that can take weeks for fueling that. “Did they screw the kid, Pratt? Boy, he’s leading, and all of a sudden he’s lost!” Trump said Tuesday.
He noted on Election Day, it seemed Pratt would make the runoff to face off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.
“And then I started hearing rumors as the days went by, days and days went by. That Pratt is fading. He’s fading. I said they rigged the election!” Trump said.
He claimed the same dynamic was happening with Hilton in the governor’s race. Many late-arriving mail ballots did swing toward progressive billionaire Tom Steyer, who was trying to usurp Hilton’s second-place status for a shot in the general election.
“I said, here we go again. And I called up the U.S. Attorney in California. They said, we’re going to have a number in the next week,” Trump said.
Next week, he said he called up a “very powerful, very good” U.S. Attorney, though he did not specify which of California’s four he called. “I said, do me a favor. Take a look. They’re trying to steal that election, too,” Trump added.
“The U.S. Attorney called, ‘we want to check your votes,’” Trump went on, and the president then said an hour later, the news media announced Hilton advanced.
“Had I not made that call, Steve Hilton would right now be looking, watching the election from home,” Trump claimed.
He continued to call California’s election “rigged” and attacked mail voting, which California has embraced, and ended his rant with a push for a federal election bill.
State Democrats have criticized Trump’s remarks on the California elections in the past for sowing unfounded mistrust, though Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office admitted it has been frustrated by the slow vote-counting. Again, on Tuesday, Newsom’s press office responded to Trump’s speech with one word.
“False!” it said.
