Editor’s Note: The original version of this story quoted former President Donald Trump claiming his “political opponents” “used COVID in order to cheat” and “rig the election in order to steal the election.” We have added a caveat that at the time he made those statements, there was no evidence to suggest or prove his allegations to be correct, and that election officials in all 50 states certified their results as valid. We regret the error.
(USA Features) Former President Donald Trump told a rally crowd in Ohio Saturday evening that political opponents used the COVID-19 pandemic to “steal” his reelection.
“They used COVID in order to cheat. They used COVID in order to rig the election and in order to steal the election. They used COVID,” he said at one point during the rally. “That’s as simple as it gets.”
Trump was in Wellington as he campaigned on behalf of GOP primary candidate Max Miller, who will oppose anti-Trump Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, next year.
The former president also offered praise for several states that were changing their election laws or are thinking of doing so after the chaotic 2020 election.
“I hear now that Wisconsin is looking very, very seriously [into the allegations of voter fraud], and I respect Wisconsin so much. It’s a great state. They’re looking very seriously. Pennsylvania is really starting to take this very seriously,” he said, thanking legislators in that state as well as in Pennsylvania for their efforts.
Georgia and Florida have already adopted new election integrity laws, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call a special session of his legislature in order to get one passed.
“Wisconsin’s state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced in May that he would hire police officers and an attorney to investigate parts of the November 2020 general election,” the Washington Examiner reported.
Trump did chastise “the [Republicans in Name Only] in the Michigan Senate” who recently released a report confirming that Biden won the state last November.
“Michigan is not [taking the allegations of voter fraud seriously]. You can’t get those Republicans. Some are great, by the way, but Michigan is not doing the job. … How do you win Ohio by so much, record numbers, and lose Michigan?” he said during the rally.
He went on to call out Democrats for hypocrisy after noting that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams both claimed voter fraud during their respective elections but were not criticized in the media like he has been.
“Stacey Abrams goes around saying she won the election. Nobody says anything. Hillary Clinton says she won the election. Nobody says anything. I say we won the election. ‘That’s terrible. That’s terrible,’ [they say],” he said. “Isn’t it a terrible situation?”