Trump revives old election lies ahead of the midterms

On Thursday, Donald Trump stood before the cameras in the White House and delivered a prime-time address claiming that the 2020 election had been stolen.

Wall Street Journal defined it as:

In his prime-time address, Trump alleged that the U.S. election system had been compromised, ramping up efforts to sow doubts about his 2020 election loss, raise skepticism about the midterms and pressure Congress into passing sweeping voter-ID legislation

CODEPINK’s co-founder Medea Benjamin said that Trump was trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections and Chinese interference to delegitimize the 2026 midterm elections.

BEWARE: Trump is trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections and Chinese interference in order to delegitimize the 2026 midterm elections.

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) July 17, 2026

Bloomberg pointed out the irony: prime-time presidential addresses are reserved for major national events or somber occasions. Instead, Trump used it for a grievance tour while the nation dealt with extreme heat, deadly flooding, and the ongoing fallout from the war on Iran.

It said:

Televised, prime-time presidential addresses are typically reserved for major national events or somber occasions. Instead, Trump delivered a speech that appeared designed to redirect public attention at a time when Americans are questioning his decision to continue to prosecute an unpopular war against Iran, as well as his stewardship of the economy, as inflation remains elevated. The nation is also grappling with the outbreak of foodborne illness, extreme heat and deadly flooding in Texas.

Midterm election doubts being sown

Democracy Defenders Action said that:

Trump and his fellow election deniers are not trying to prove anything about the last elections. They’re trying to fool us into doubting the next one.

Senate Democrats said that the speech was part of Trump’s plan not to lose the midterms.

Trump is trying to rewrite the rules before voters cast a single ballot in 2026.

Sen. @ChrisCoons: “This is all part of President Trump’s campaign to federalize elections… and control elections in a way that gives him a better chance of not losing the midterms.” pic.twitter.com/5KkkAItiK6

— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) July 17, 2026

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said that with his MAGA base disheartened, Trump was planning to interfere in November elections.

Tonight seems to be the ceremonial kickoff of President Trump’s campaign to interfere in the November election. Trump has badly lost independent voters, even MAGA is disheartened; he is failing and unpopular, and he’s dragging his party down with him in the midterms.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) July 17, 2026

Little Rubio goes after Trump critics

While Trump was scaremongering about election interference, Trump’s minions – Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent and Stephen Miller- were, in parallel, setting up grounds to persecute Trump’s detractors.

Rubio has spent the earlier part of the week attacking international law and the ICC.

In an event on Thursday, Rubio invited ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting about what the Trump administration views as a major peril: the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism.”

In a speech, he said that “far-left extremism will be treated with the same seriousness and ferocity the world has long reserved for jihadist terrorism.” He said that left-wing terrorism has surged to levels not seen in decades.

🔹White House:
“Today, the Trump Administration convened senior officials from governments around the world to launch an unprecedented global offensive against the transnational threat of Radical Left terrorism.”

🔸The statement says “far-left extremism will be treated with the… https://t.co/EYCGrK1s4f pic.twitter.com/ccuyHchdkC

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) July 17, 2026

He said that there will be more terrorist designations of left-wing groups “soon.”

Bessent said:

We will identify illicit funding, however artfully it is concealed. We will dismantle the networks that sustain political terrorism, however respectable their fronts may be.

Meanwhile, Miller said National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 will lead to the debanking, defunding and disruption of left-wing “political terrorists that are operating in our country.”

Stephen Miller says NSPM-7 will lead to the debanking, defunding and disruption of left-wing “political terrorists that are operating in our country.” pic.twitter.com/f8149D3r52

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) July 16, 2026

Vocal Politics said that the Trump administration announced an escalation of its crackdown on protest movements Thursday, building upon the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 and designation of “Antifa” as a “domestic terrorist” group.

The Trump admin announced an escalation of its crackdown on protest movements on Thursday, building upon the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 and designation of “Antifa” as a “domestic terrorist” group.

￭ The White House announced “Today, the Trump Administration… pic.twitter.com/n6S02xncqi

— VPol (@VocalPolitics1) July 16, 2026

Journalist Jasper Nathaniel said that Trump’s team’s so-called fight against the far-left sounded like drone strikes on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) meetings.

Sounds like drone strikes on DSA meetings. Not good pic.twitter.com/WF9M8WtRij

— jasper nathaniel (@infinite_jaz) July 17, 2026

Why are Trump and his team stepping up their aggression?

Well, his approval rating hovers near record lows in a new Economist/YouGov poll, with just 37% of Americans saying they approve of his job performance.

In a historic first, China is now viewed more positively than the US in many countries around the world, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. It is the first time the organisation has recorded such results.

Bhaskar Sunkara noted in the Guardian recently that the left still struggles to win rural voters in the USA; the DSA was sweeping primaries in New York City. The “DSA now has chapters in 47 states across the country and a few wins in the heart of Trump country,” he said.

Trump’s team is scared and increasingly fascist — which explains things like the restarting of bombing on Iran by the Trump regime, the extradition of pro-Palestine donor Fergie Chambers from Spain, handing out outrageous sentences to anti-ICE protestors, and now setting up the scene for crying about election fraud in the midterms and persecuting any threats from progressives.

Featured image via the Canary