President Donald Trump first said he would accept the 2026 midterm results after Democrats won control of Congress, then later questioned whether the election was honest, News From The States reported, in an article also carried by States Newsroom sites¹.

On Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???” according to the report¹.

Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin, a Republican, told a Board of Supervisors meeting that fellow Republicans should stop repeating claims of fraud that a 2020-21 Arizona audit did not substantiate¹.

Gabriel Sterling, a Republican former Georgia elections official now at the Secure Democracy Foundation, said he was initially pleased by Trump’s first comments but expected they could reverse quickly¹.

Kate Starbird of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public said online talk of a rigged vote rose after Trump’s later posts, but that protests and infrastructure seen after 2020 were not in place¹.

Kari Lake questioned the “math” without evidence, and Mike Lindell called for a full recount, the report said; Vice President JD Vance instead pointed to the war with Iran, Sen. Ted Cruz called the outcome a Watergate-level repudiation, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said the people have spoken¹.

A September-October Pew Research Center survey cited in the story found 90% of Republican-supporting and 91% of Democratic-supporting registered voters expressed some confidence that elections in their community would be well run¹.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said he had seen fewer stolen-election claims than in past cycles and was not yet convinced the pattern would end before 2028¹.