Trump Sets Himself Up For Election Denialism 2.0 In Wisconsin This Fall

Nicole Lafond

May 3, 2024 at 6:52 AM·2 min read

Fresh off an interview with Time magazine published this week, during which he would not rule out the possibility of violence if he doesn’t win in November — “If we don’t win, you know, it depends. … It always depends on the fairness of the election” — Donald Trump is giving himself wiggle room to cry “rigged” in a key swing state this fall.

Trump was in Wisconsin for a campaign rally Wednesday night, ahead of his appearance back in court in Manhattan today, and gave an interview to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. During the conversation, he not only refused to commit to accepting the result of the presidential election in the state, but also repeated his consistently and thoroughly debunked belief that he didn’t actually lose Wisconsin in 2020.

“If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin,” he told the newspaper. “It also showed I won the election in other locations.”

President Biden, of course, won Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes four years ago.

Trump’s been on a tear this week, and has in public remarks repeatedly created an opening for himself to revive 2020-era claims about the election results in the fall. During a rally in Michigan this week, he resurrected his “Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020” line and warned that “we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election — the most important day of our lives — in 2024.”

His remarks to the Journal Sentinel were even more sinister. Trump placed conditions on what kind of election results he would accept in the state.

“If everything’s honest, I’d gladly accept the results,” Trump told the newspaper Wednesday. “If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

“But if everything’s honest, which we anticipate it will be — a lot of changes have been made over the last few years — but if everything’s honest, I will absolutely accept the results,” he continued, before reassuring that he would “let it be known” if he thinks there is something wrong with how Wisconsin conducts its elections this fall. When asked to clarify what an “honest” election means to him, he said “high standards of voting,” making it quite obvious he’d rather that part of the conversation remain vague.

The time for speculation about how Trump will handle a 2024 loss is over. He’s telling us in real time.