President Donald Trump has claimed the Los Angeles mayoral race is “crooked” and that Republican candidates in California are “being cheated,” without providing any evidence.
Taking to Truth Social late Sunday, the president wrote: “Has anybody been watching the CROOKED Election going on in California.
“Two great Republican Candidates are being cheated, and so is America, which if the Dumocrats are able to fulfill their mission, great trouble and consternation will follow. Watch this ‘Election’ closely!!!”
In the L.A. mayor’s race, incumbent Karen Bass, a Democrat seeking a second term, and challenger Nithya Raman, also a Democrat, are projected to enter a run-off election in November as things stand, with Republican Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, on course to miss out.
With 87 percent of the votes counted almost a week on from last Tuesday’s election, Bass is on 34.68 percent, Raman is on 27.12 percent and Pratt is on 26.69 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ.
The Golden State runs “open” primaries in which all candidates appear on the same ballot and the top two vote-winners ultimately advance to a run-off, regardless of party, hence their being no conservative presence in the final two if Raman beats Pratt, as is currently expected.
Pratt has insisted all is not lost, however, writing on social media Sunday, over a picture of Raman in tears: “Remember everyone…we are still in the lead, and we’ve got allllllll the way til July 6th to keep counting.”
He previously issued a call for “patience” and posted a meme of Russell Crowe completing complex mathematical equations in the film A Beautiful Mind (2001) to suggest the ballot counting process is needlessly complicated.
Bass, the first Black woman to lead L.A., suffered a difficult 2025, tackling devastating wildfires in January and angry protests against ICE raids the following summer, but retains the support of influential California Democrats like Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi.
Last week, Trump complained the opposition was also attempting to “steal” the state’s governor’s race, again without evidence, saying as much in a number of Truth Social posts and prematurely congratulating Republican candidate Steve Hilton as the winner before the vote tally was even close to being finalized.
Hilton is currently in second place and vying with Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer for the chance to join former U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra, another Democrat, in the final run-off.
The president repeated his election fraud claims in person Friday while addressing an audience of Wisconsin farmers.
“Can you imagine, it’s four days, and they still aren’t even close to telling you who won,” the president said. “You know why? Because they’re rigging the election, that’s why.”
His Department of Justice has meanwhile sent Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Renner to L.A. to observe the vote counting process in order to thwart any attempted interference.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, has since moved to reassure the state’s citizens about the integrity of the state’s elections.
“My office has a presence on the ground right now, is monitoring the situation closely, and stands ready to protect voters and ensure California’s election laws are followed,” he wrote on X.
