Trump says he doesn’t think he needs to tell his supporters not to be violent if he loses
Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he didn’t believe he had to tell his supporters that there should be no violence and that they should accept the results of the election if he loses.
“I don’t have to tell them that,” Trump said when asked whether he would tell his supporters that there should be no violence.
“Would you tell them though?” he was asked.
For context: Trump’s supporters violently stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of the results of the 2020 election after Trump lost the election and refused to concede.
Trump did not answer when asked by CNN whether he would declare victory tonight regardless of the results.
The former president had just cast his vote in Palm Beach on Election Day and stopped to take questions from reporters.
Voting is well underway in every state in the US. Here’s what you should know
Americans are heading to the polls today to vote for their next president.
Polls have opened across the country and will continue into the evening. Election officials across the US — particularly in swing states — have pledged to uphold the integrity of the vote and urged voters not to be misled by conspiracy theories.
So far today, only minor delays due to minor equipment glitches have been reported.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said there have been no national significant incidents impacting the security of the election infrastructure as of this morning.
Catch up on the latest Election Day news:
- Over 80 million people have voted so far: 83 million people have already cast their ballot, according to the latest data from 48 states and the District of Columbia gathered by CNN, Edison Research and Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit advocacy groups, including insights into who is voting before November. This is more than half of the roughly 158 million votes cast for president in 2020, but it’s significantly lower than the total preelection vote that year, when roughly 70% of voters chose to vote by mail or early in-person.
- Pennsylvania and Florida expect swift ballot counting: Florida election results will be known by the time “you go to bed tonight,” Secretary of State of Florida Cord Byrd said. Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein told CNN that he believes ballot counting will go “much faster” in the 2024 election cycle compared to 2020. “Hopefully, if everything continues to go smoothly,” it will be completed by the middle of the day Wednesday, Bluestein said.
- Warnings to not peddle misinformation: More than 100 leaders in the legal profession signed an open letter warning lawyers who challenge votes in this election not to peddle false information in court filings. “Filing election-related lawsuits without a solid factual and legal foundation endangers the very institutions lawyers are oathbound to defend,” the letter noted.
- DOJ polling monitors: In a case brought by Texas state Republican officials seeking to block US Justice Department monitors there, the state indicated on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the DOJ, under which the monitors would stay outside of polling places. Meanwhile, a federal judge said on Monday evening that she would not block the Justice Department from deploying monitors at polling places in St. Louis, rejecting a lawsuit brought by Republican state officials in Missouri.
