Remember When Trump Accused His Republican Opponents of Trying to Rig the 2024 Iowa Caucus?

(Saul Loeb/AP photo)

President Donald Trump made multiple claims of foreign influence the 2020 elections in a speech to the nation Thursday — but a look back at his relatively brief career in national politics shows it’s far from the first time the commander in chief has cried “fraud.”

While Trump touted his primetime address ahead of time as “really, really big news,” the speech was shredded for several bonkers claims, including that his administration found “burn bags” with information from President Barack Obama and that China was attempting to interfere in American elections.

Even Grok, Elon Musk’s xAI chatbot, wasn’t buying Trump’s allegedly new evidence the 2020 election was rigged, and one of his own advisors admitted shortly after the speech that there was “zero evidence” of any votes being changed “in 2020, ’22 or ’24.”

Before Trump’s apparently singular focus on his 2020 loss to Joe Biden — during which his first administration was in power — he made similar accusations against his fellow Republicans.

Way back in 2016, during his first run for the White House, amid a crowded field of Republican candidates, Trump lost the key Iowa caucus to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), prompting him to make what at the time sounded like an outlandish allegation.

“Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he illegally stole it,” Trump declared on what was then Twitter. “That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!”

He quickly deleted the message and re-posted it with the word “illegally” removed.

Trump claimed Cruz “stole” the election with a controversial mailer, made false allegations Ben Carson was dropping out of the race, and demanded a new caucus.

In 2024, Trump’s main Republican primary opponent was quick to recall the 2016 controversy.

“If Trump loses, he will say it’s stolen no matter what, absolutely. He will try to delegitimize the results,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told a reporter who asked if Trump would accept the results of either the Iowa caucus or New Hampshire primary that year.

“He did that against Ted Cruz in 2016, and he will do that. I mean, even when like The Apprentice didn’t get an Emmy,” DeSantis said.

“So I think I don’t think there’s been a single time he’s ever been in competition for something where he didn’t get it, where he’s accepted. I don’t think he will do that.”

Trump went on to win both contests — but not before attacking then challenger Nikki Haley, who came in second in New Hampshire and didn’t immediately concede the race.

As the race was being called for Trump, and while Haley was still pledging to continue her campaign for the White House, he wrote on Truth Social: “Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!”

He followed up with one word:

“DELUSIONAL!!!”

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