With recounts underway and legal challenges intensifying, President Trump today demanded that the tight Florida races for governor and the state’s seat in the U.S. Senate be called for Republicans because an “honest vote count is no longer possible.”
State election monitors have said there is no evidence of voter fraud, and the agency tasked with overseeing election integrity said it had not received any allegations in writing, despite accusations from Republicans.
But that hasn’t stopped Trump who seems to relish in political conspiracies.
“The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged,” Trump said in a post on Twitter, without citing any evidence for his dramatic claims.
The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
In response, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (D) tweeted “You sound nervous” at President Trump Monday morning after Trump tweeted out that recounts in Florida should end and that Gillum’s GOP opponent should be declared the governor-elect.
You sound nervous.#CountEveryVote https://t.co/9kRvTqUmwM
— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) November 12, 2018
Pro-Trump former GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis leads Gillum by 0.4 percentage points, or about 33,000 votes.
The result has huge stakes for the policies the third most populous U.S. state pursues, as well as congressional redistricting after the 2020 Census.
Florida started a contentious ballot recount over the weekend in its tight Senate and gubernatorial races. In a state where a recount — and subsequent Supreme Court case — decided the 2000 presidential election, the process has already become bitter and prompted Republicans to accuse their opponents of attempting to “steal” the races.
Before the recount, Republican Gov. Rick Scott led Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson by 0.2 percentage points, or about 13,000 votes.
Florida’s secretary of state, Republican Ken Detzner, has ordered the recount to be completed by Thursday. If a machine recount shows the Senate race margin within 0.25 percentage points, a manual recount would then take place.
The state is still awaiting a full accounting of ballots coming from military members and overseas voters, which have to arrive by Friday in order to be counted.
The contest will help to set the partisan composition of the Senate, which is critical of Trump’s ability to put conservative judges on federal benches.
