This story follows Awaaz Punjab's earlier report on President Trump accepting the midterm results on election night. On Monday he reversed that position in a Truth Social post, questioning whether the election was honest — an allegation he made without offering evidence. Read our earlier report: Trump accepts the midterm results
Washington, November 9 — US President Donald Trump on Monday questioned the legitimacy of last week's midterm elections, six days after Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in a sweeping defeat for his Republican Party. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump asked whether the election had been conducted honestly and blamed the polls, large early-vote totals and voting machines for the result.
Source: Spectrum News
What Trump posted
"Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest," Trump wrote. "How could the Polls be so wrong??? Some early voting 'dumps' were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote. It's all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!" The president offered no specific evidence for the allegation — no state, county, machine or count was named in the post.
Source: Press TV
Election officials across the United States have raised no major concerns about voting machines or early voting in this election, according to reporting on the post, and vote-counting proceeded largely normally, with some races still uncalled because of state rules and the time needed to process mail ballots. Trump's claims are therefore reported here as allegations, not as established facts.
A reversal in six days
The post is a sharp reversal from election night, November 3, when Trump told interviewers he accepted the results, credited Democrats for doing "a good job", and told The New York Times: "I am absolutely willing to accept those results, yeah." On Sunday night, in a CBS News '60 Minutes' interview, he attributed the losses to his not being on the ballot, voters' dislike of the war with Iran, and some Republican candidates — without alleging fraud.
Source: Spectrum News
The numbers behind the claim
Trump asked how the polls could be "so wrong", but surveys in the weeks before the vote had in fact forecast a Democratic wave — a House flip and a possible Senate flip. Analysts cited in coverage of the post said the polls understated the size of the Democratic swing by roughly four percentage points: wrong in scale, not in direction. The large one-sided early-vote totals Trump called 'dumps' are a normal feature of US counting, because early and mail ballots are reported in batches under state law. More than 54 million voters cast ballots early this year, by mail and in person, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.
Reaction: 'a pathetic return to election denialism'
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who is set to become Senate majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January, responded on X: "Donald Trump's pathetic return to election denialism was inevitable. He can whine all he wants, but nothing will stop this inescapable truth: For the last two years of his presidency, Trump will face the largest Democratic congressional majorities in decades, all because he has been an unprecedented failure." Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly, who supported Trump in 2024, replied to the fraud claims on X with two words: "Just stop."
Source: Spectrum News / syndicated reporting
What is solid
- Trump posted the 'honest' message on Truth Social on Monday, November 9 — the wording is quoted verbatim above
- Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the November 3 midterms; at least seven Senate seats and more than 40 House seats flipped
- On election night Trump said he accepted the results and was 'absolutely willing' to accept them
- More than 54 million ballots were cast early (University of Florida Election Lab)
What is only claimed
- Trump's allegation that early-vote 'dumps' and voting machines made a Republican win 'impossible' — no evidence was offered in the post and election officials have reported no major machine concerns
- Trump's suggestion that the polls were 'so wrong' — pre-election polls forecast a Democratic wave and understated its size, rather than predicting a Republican win
What happens next
A social-media post is not a legal challenge: certification of the results continues state by state on the normal calendar, and counting continues in the races still uncalled, including the Senate contests in Mississippi and Alaska. Reports on Monday projected Democrats at 54 Senate seats to Republicans' 44, and 253 House seats to 160, with some races outstanding. The new Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January 2027, and Trump's post signals that the legitimacy fight — which he had publicly closed on election night — has reopened for the final two years of his presidency.