Donald Trump encouraged supporters to take “election integrity” into their own hands by manning the polls during a pre-midterm rally Thursday night in Sioux City, Iowa. The former president was in Iowa to support Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Kim Reynolds, both of whom are running for re-election on Tuesday.
“We need a landslide so big that the radical left can’t set it up or steal it!” Trump told the crowd. “If you care about election integrity, volunteer as an election worker, poll watcher or poll challenger,” Trump said. “We need you!”
Trump at Iowa rally: Voting on Election Day ‘is better’ than mailing in your ballot because ‘it’s a lot harder for them to cheat.’ pic.twitter.com/I8JOZ8wx9J — nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) November 4, 2022 Poll challengers are election observers who have the ability to challenge whether or not a person is actually eligible to vote. The specifics of the practice vary from state to state. In the lead up to the midterm elections, there have been reports of observers intimidating voters at early voting sites and polling stations. Election officials and administrators who faced an avalanche of harassment at the hands of conspiracy theorists after the 2020 election are bracing for contentious days, with expectations that many election watchers are motivated by conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 defeat.
Trump’s rally on the eve of the election is part of a multi-stop blitz aimed at giving Republicans a final push in an election where they hope to retake both houses of Congress. The former president couldn’t resist teasing that he would “very, very, very likely” seek the presidency again in 2024 and expect an announcement “very soon.”
Trump also brought his usual list of grievances and bullshit to Iowa. He complained that earlier in the afternoon, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron granted Attorney General Laetitia James’ request to put the Trump Organization on trial, while James’ fraud case against the former president and three of his children is on trial.
“Just a short time ago a radical leftist crazy judge in New York, who is completely controlled by my worst enemies in the Democratic Party, started a confiscation process that looks like Venezuela, Cuba and the old Soviet Union.” Trump complained, calling James an “uncheckable attorney general” and likening the case against him to “communism.”
Trump: A short time ago a radical leftist crazy judge in New York who is completely controlled by my worst enemies in the Democratic Party…started a confiscation process that looks like Venezuela, Cuba and the old Soviet Union pic.twitter. com/pSrZbdy3nr — Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2022 Trump’s appearance was preceded by a series of speeches, including those by Senator Grassley and Governor Reynolds. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green also spoke, with the audience mentioning Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was recently attacked by an intruder in his San Francisco home. “The only crime victim you hear about from Democrats and the media is Paul Pelosi,” Green said. “Paul Pelosi should have owned a gun and shot his attacker.”
Americans are going to vote on Tuesday, November 8th. Both Grassley and Reynolds are favored to win the general election and retain office.
