This is Trump's plot to rig the midterms — we must unite to beat it

“I want to see elections be honest, and if a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it,” said Trump on Tuesday during a bill-signing ceremony to reopen the federal government.

“Take a look at Detroit … take a look at Philadelphia, take a look at Atlanta,” he continued, alleging corruption — without evidence — in the major cities in battleground states.

“The federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved. These are agents of the federal government to count the vote. If they can’t count the vote legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.”

And that’s just Tuesday's rant.

During an extended monologue about immigration on a podcast released on Monday by Dan Bongino, Trump’s former deputy FBI director, Trump called for Republican officials to “take over” voting procedures in 15 states. (He didn’t say which 15, but the context was obvious: He was talking about states he lost in 2020 that are dominated by Democrats.)

Trump asserted there are “states that are so crooked … that I won, that show I didn’t win” and again baselessly claimed that undocumented immigrants were allowed to vote illegally in 2020.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” he said. “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Trump then teased that there will be “some interesting things come out” of Georgia.

We all remember Trump trolling for “enough” votes in Georgia to reverse the outcome in 2020. Last week, the FBI executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Fulton County, Georgia (at the heart of right-wing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election), authorizing agents to seize all physical ballots from the 2020 election, voting machine tabulator tapes, images produced during the ballot count, and voter rolls from that year.

The day after the Georgia search, Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, met with some of those FBI agents — reportedly at Trump’s personal request. Trump himself, on speakerphone, asked questions about their investigation.

This isn’t Georgia next to Russia. This is the state of Georgia in America. What the hell is Gabbard — who’s supposed to be worried about foreign meddling in our elections —doing in our Georgia?

It doesn’t seem accidental that Pam Bondi’s “Weaponization Working Group” also convened yesterday and pushed the Justice Department for “results in the next two months.” The Working Group’s goal is to figure out “how to reenergize probes” into federal and local officials who investigated Trump’s actions.

My friends, you know what’s going on as well as I do.

Trump is justifiably worried about the 2026 midterms. His polls are tanking. The Epstein files aren’t looking good. The economy is shitty. At this rate, Democrats are likely to sweep both chambers of Congress.

If that happens, starting in January 2027 Trump will face a constant barrage of hearings, inquiries, and even (as he’s said several times) impeachment votes. It’s not a stretch to predict that the Senate might convict him of impeachable offenses — in which case he’s out on his ass.

So Trump figures now is the time — some nine and a half months before the midterm elections — to get Bondi’s Justice Department, the FBI, and even Gabbard’s national intelligence apparatus geared up for a “takeover” of state voting.

Recall that in March, Trump signed an executive order that required documentary proof of citizenship in order to vote and that all mail ballots be received by the time polls close on Election Day. The courts have largely blocked that order from being implemented.

Then in August, Trump said he would sign an executive order that would “help bring HONESTY” to this year’s midterm elections. Trump posted: “Remember, the states are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.”

Hello?

Let’s pause for a moment to consider the United States Constitution. It gives states — not the federal government — the power over elections. States, in turn, have delegated much of the actual work to county and municipal officials in thousands of precincts across the country.

While Congress has exercised some power over elections — creating a national Election Day, requiring states to ensure that voter rolls are accurate, and outlawing discrimination in voting (the Supreme Court has already eviscerated Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and seems now on the verge of gutting Section 2) — states run elections under their own laws and procedures.

Would Trump’s Republican lackeys in Congress go along with a putative “takeover” of state election processes that “nationalized” the voting?

Some might, but not nearly enough to pass legislation. Their margins in the House and Senate are too small, many of them are already fighting for reelection in districts or states that are shifting against Trump, and in recent weeks several have voted contrary to what Trump wanted (i.e. the Epstein files).

Could Trump merely declare a takeover by executive order? He could try, but not even his pliant Supreme Court would go along with it.

So what’s he up to?

Think a multi-pronged strategy involving Justice, FBI, CIA, and also Homeland Security and possibly the Department of Defense.

Imagine that over the next nine and a half months Bondi, Patel, Gabbard, Noem, and Hegseth all get to work — with the objective of causing enough Americans to worry about voting in the midterms, or doubt that their votes will count in the midterms, that they don’t bother.

They’ll create a steady drumbeat of allegations and investigations into voting, accompanied FBI and Justice Department seizures of voter rolls. At the same time, ICE and Border Patrol raids ramp up. All of it centered on American cities where most Democratic voters live.

Is it too far-fetched to believe that this is Trump’s strategy? Remember, this is the man who summoned supporters to Washington and encouraged them to attack the U.S. Capitol.

He doesn’t need Republicans in Congress or the Supreme Court. This time, he’ll unleash the investigative, enforcement, and police powers of the executive branch on American cities to intimidate Democratic voters — or cause them to become so cynical about the whole voting process that they don’t vote.

I believe this is exactly what he’s attempting to do.

So what should we do? Fight back.

All of us — including Democratic leaders — must say over and over again: You have a right to vote. Trump can’t take it away. Your vote counts. This is your country.

We need to make sure our states, cities, and counties are doing everything possible to protect the election process, election machines, and ballots.

And — as Fulton County, Georgia, is now doing — every city and county or state where Trump and his goons are trying to seize voter rolls or otherwise mess with the process must sue the hell out of the Trump regime.

What do you think?

• Robert Reich is an emeritus professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/. His new memoir, Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org