Former President Donald Trump alleged without evidence that the California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral primary elections were rigged. He made the claims during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on June 7 and later on social media on June 8, disputing preliminary vote counts showing his preferred Republican candidates trailing Democrats [1, 2, 3].
Trump walked out of the NBC interview after repeatedly refusing to provide proof. He called host Kristen Welker and various media outlets "crooked" during the exchange [1, 3]. During the appearance, Trump said, "No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!" and insisted, "It's four days and they aren’t even close to counting [ballots]" [1]. On social media, he highlighted the performances of Republican candidates Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton, stating, "all I have to do is look" and "They’re dropping fast because it’s a rigged election" [1, 3].
California uses an open or jungle primary system where the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation [2, 3]. In the Los Angeles mayoral primary, Republican Spencer Pratt finished behind Democrats Karen Bass and Nithya Raman. As of June 8, Raman had overtaken Pratt for second place with 27.12% of the vote, trailing Bass who held nearly 35%, among 14 total candidates [2]. In the California gubernatorial primary, Republican Steve Hilton trailed Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer [2].
Separately, Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for Southern California, announced on June 7 that multiple election fraud investigations are ongoing in the region but did not provide details [3].
Trump’s repeated claims come amid official preliminary results showing Democrats leading in these key California races. The next concrete step will be final vote certification in the coming weeks as California election officials close and validate the counts.
