Trump says 'honest' election no longer possible in Florida, demands election be called for Republicans
- President Donald Trump built on days of baseless claims of voter fraud to demand that Florida elections be called in favor of Republican candidates.
- The Florida secretary of state ordered recounts in three races Saturday: the governorship, a US Senate seat, and the state agriculture commissioner.
- Republicans, including Trump, have shared anecdotes of misplaced votes in Florida, but state Republican officials have denied all their claims.
President Donald Trump built on days of baseless claims of voter fraud in Florida to demand that the election be called in favor of a Republican candidates for Senate and the governorship as he no longer believes an honest election is possible.
Three elections in Florida have headed towards a recounts as they were decided with razor-thin margins.
Following the elections, Floridians reported strange sightings of ballot boxes being left behind, and votes being transported in private cars, which Republicans including Trump used to call into question the legitimacy of the elections.
Florida authorities later stated that no ballots had been left behind.
Following the recounts and irregularities of the election, Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for Governor, withdrew his previous concession to Ron DeSantis, who Trump backs.
Gillum said he was "replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote."
"The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged," Trump tweeted on Monday morning. "An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!"
Despite the certainty in Trump's statements, no Florida state department has reported any evidence of voter fraud or illegal voting as Trump and others have alleged. This includes offices under Rick Scott, Florida's current governor who ran for the Senate against incumbent Bill Nelson.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Friday it has not launched any investigation into election fraud.