According to recent polling, only 28% of Americans are confident that Donald Trump will accept the results of the midterms if his party loses. Which means we could be hearing one of Trump’s favorite words – “rigged” – a lot in the coming weeks and months.
If he attempts to overturn a fair election, as he tried six years ago, it will be up to the news media to remind the public that false claims of unfairness are on-brand for him.
Here are 25 things Trump says were rigged, faked, or stolen:
1. The Emmy Awards
After Trump’s “The Apprentice” repeatedly lost to “The Amazing Race,” he called it “a con game” and claimed, “I would have won the Emmy many times except for my politics.”
2. Climate change warnings
Trump tweeted in 2012 that climate change concerns were rigged: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
3. The 2016 Iowa caucus
“Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it.“
4. The legal case against Trump University
When victims of Trump’s university scam sued, he declared, “I am getting railroaded by … a rigged system.” He claimed the “Mexican” judge (who was born in Indiana) was biased against him and ultimately settled by paying $25 million.
5. The 2016 Democratic primaries
“President Obama should ask the DNC about how they rigged the election against Bernie.”
6. The investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails
“Rigged,” according to a Trump tweet.
7. Trump’s first debate with Clinton
He called it a “rigged deal,” claiming he was intentionally given a faulty microphone and that moderator Lester Holt was out to get him.
8. The 2016 general election (before he won)
9. The 2016 general election (even after he won)
Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes, but he claimed he would’ve won it if 3-5 million undocumented immigrants hadn’t cast ballots. (A total lie.)
10. The Mueller probe
Trump said he was persecuted by an investigation run by Robert Mueller, a special counsel named by Trump’s own Justice Department to look into ties between Russia and his 2016 campaign. “Mueller and his gang … make Joseph McCarthy look like a baby! Rigged Witch Hunt!”
11. The Nobel Peace Prize
Trump said in 2018 that “everyone” thought he deserved a Nobel Prize. A year later, he said he “would get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things if they give it out fairly, which they don’t.” After missing out again this year, he said the snub left “an indelible stain on the country of Norway.”
12. Google’s search results
Trump said they were “rigged” to showcase liberal media outlets.
13. The media (of course)
“It’s the Rigged Media ... and it is what I’m up against.”
14. The 2020 election
“The 2020 Presidential Election was MANIPULATED and RIGGED by the DOJ,” Trump claimed, citing a fake statistic that 20% of mail-in ballots were “rigged or defective.” He’s been repeating his lie about 2020 ever since.
15. His own followers’ riot at the Capitol
Trump said the FBI “secretly placed” agents in the crowd to foment the disorder. He also said, “Nancy Pelosi is responsible, because she refused to take the 10,000 soldiers or National Guardsmen that I offered.” (Both are ridiculous lies.)
16. The civil business fraud case against Trump
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and other Trump Organization figures for claiming widely different property values, depending on whether they were talking to potential lenders or tax officials. Trump posted about “racist A.G. James’ CORRUPT & RIGGED case against me.” He and his co-defendants were ordered to pay $364 million, but that penalty was canceled on appeal.
17. The criminal business fraud case against Trump
Trump was convicted of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to a porn star in order to protect his chances of winning the 2016 election. When the case went to the jury, he said: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged.”
18. Polls
Trump hates unfavorable survey results, even from his usually fawning friends at Fox News. Therefore, “Fox Polls are Rigged and Worthless!”
19. The second 2024 presidential debate
Trump denounced “the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate.”
20. The 2024 election (even after he won)
“I probably would’ve won all 50 [states] if we had an honest count,” he claimed. He lost California by 20 points but insisted that if it wasn’t rigged, “I would have won it by a lot.”
21. The Epstein scandal
Trump said the outrage over his sex-trafficking ex-friend Jeffrey Epstein was a “Democrat hoax” and his birthday message to Epstein was “fake.”
22. Unemployment numbers
Trump fired the Biden-appointed head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, saying “the numbers were rigged.”
23. World Cup referees
After a U.S. soccer star was disqualified from a match, Trump threatened to claim the match was “rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020,” if the player wasn’t reinstated. Trump got his way with FIFA’s ethically dodgy World Cup leadership.
24. The 2026 Brazil election
“It looked like another rigged election, frankly.”
25. Counter-protests at rallies
Trump keeps claiming that hecklers at his rallies are “paid protesters” despite no evidence of that whatsoever.
I’ll bet Trump thinks this whole list is rigged.
This week’s media atrocity
I’m sick of news outlets such as the New York Times acting like prediction markets are innovative ways to forecast the future when, in fact, they’re innovative ways to separate gullible people from their money.
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I suspect when he gets to the pearly gates and is not allowed to enter, he will claim St. Peter rigged it so he couldn't get in!! Thank you, Mark.
If he doesn't get an award, a prize, free money, compliments or immunity, he says it's rigged.