Trump Identifies Another Election He Claims Was Stolen: ‘They Rigged Him Out of It’

 

President Donald Trump baselessly claimed that a 2024 U.S. Senate race was stolen from Republicans.

In an interview with Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News released on Friday, Trump said that many voters “are very angry at Republicans,” but he took no responsibility for this state of affairs even though his approval rating is 39%, according to the most recent Fox News poll.

“Why is that?” Sherman asked.

“I don’t know,” Trump responded. “I mean, they’re angry at Republicans. But they’re not angry at me.”

The president then boasted of winning Michigan “easily” in 2024, even though he won the state by just 1.4 percentage points. Sherman replied by bringing up former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in the state. It is the second go-around for Rogers, who lost his 2024 bid for Senate against then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. During Trump’s exchange with Sherman, the president posited that that contest was also stolen:

SHERMAN: Rogers lost when you were on the ballot.

TRUMP: Yeah, uh–

SHERMAN: And now he’s up again.

TRUMP: Well, he lost when I’m on the ballot and I won big in Michigan. But I happen to think he won.

SHERMAN: Ok, well–

TRUMP: No, no. I think it was a rigged deal. I think they rigged him out of it. But he’s a very good candidate. I think he should do well if we believe in polls. I actually sort of believe in polls.

The president then went on a brief digression about Rogers’ Democratic opponent, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.

“It’s ‘Abdul,’ but I call him ‘Abdullah,'” he continued. “The actual name is ‘Abdullah,’ and then it’s much longer than that. But if you believe in the polls, [Rogers] does better against Abdullah than he did against the young congresswoman [Haley Stevens].”

El-Sayed’s full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. The candidate has noted that Rogers and other political foes have taken to using it as a racist dog whistle.

“They think they want to use my whole name against me,” El-Sayed said on Wednesday, the day after he won the primary. “Mike, listen, man, if you can’t say the name — it’s Abdulrahman — keep the name out of your damn mouth. I’ll be happy to give you lessons.”

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Mike is a Mediaite senior editor who covers the news in primetime. Follow him on Bluesky.