Trump casts doubt on US, Brazil elections

Washington: US President Donald Trump questioned the integrity of elections in Alaska, California and Brazil, declining to identify a legitimate winner in Brazil and saying an unresolved ballot dispute in Alaska would make that election dishonest.

Speaking to reporters before departing on Air Force One, Trump alleged that similar candidate names on the Alaska ballot were intended to confuse voters supporting Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Asked what would constitute an honest election, he pointed to the Alaska dispute.

“Well, I think what they do, if they don't correct this, it would be certainly a dishonest election,” Trump said.

He accused Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and others of involvement in what he called voter fraud. He did not provide evidence during the exchange establishing that they had organised a fraudulent scheme.

Trump said another candidate named Dan Sullivan had not campaigned and had been placed on the ballot to draw votes away from the senator. He referred to studies he said showed voter confusion but did not identify them or explain how they were conducted.

Asked whether Republicans should refuse to seat Mary Peltola if she won, Trump did not give a direct answer.

“Well, you're going to have to see what happens,” he said. “It's hard to believe that she could even be allowed to run.”

He did not explain a legal basis for questioning her eligibility. His remarks focused on his allegation that voters would struggle to distinguish between similarly named candidates.

Trump also criticised California’s elections after a reporter asked about a judge’s decision rejecting a challenge involving 20,000 votes. He said the decision would be appealed and alleged that the number of invalid ballots was much larger.

“We found 20,000, but there are hundreds of thousands of bad ballots, bad votes in California, millions. In my opinion millions,” he said.

He offered no supporting documentation during the exchange. He also claimed he would have won California had its votes been counted honestly.

Turning to Brazil, Trump said he would speak to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but stopped short of explicitly recognising him as the election winner when pressed by reporters.

“I'll talk to him. I think the election was a disgrace in Brazil,” he said.

Asked whom he considered the legitimate winner, Trump replied: “I don't want to comment right now, but I thought the election was a very great embarrassment to the people of Brazil.”

He said he had watched the election and had refrained from taking sides after being asked to do so by the current president. He did not identify specific electoral irregularities in his answers.

Trump also cited a fall in Brazil’s market, without naming an index, specifying a period or providing figures. He gave no date for a conversation with Lula.

In a separate exchange, Trump defended Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth when asked about Democratic discussion of impeachment. He praised Hegseth’s performance and accused Democrats of repeatedly seeking to impeach officials.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

IANS

[email protected]