Overview
- In a podcast with Dan Bongino, the president urged Republicans to take control of elections in at least 15 places and later labeled Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta as “extremely corrupt” in an NBC interview.
- At the National Prayer Breakfast, he said he needs election victories for his “ego” and again falsely claimed the 2020 race was stolen.
- Steve Bannon called for deploying ICE agents to monitor polling places in November and later floated mobilizing the 82nd and 101st Airborne under the Insurrection Act.
- Legal experts, including Justin Levitt, say the Constitution leaves election administration to the states, and federal law bars deploying armed forces or intimidating agents at polling sites.
- The FBI recently seized roughly 700 boxes of 2020 ballots and materials in Fulton County, Georgia, a flashpoint now cited by proponents and critics as the parties brace for legal and political fights before the midterms.