Trump claims without evidence that California Democrats are 'stealing' state primaries

As California counties continued the routine, weeks-long process of counting ballots after the June 2, 2026 statewide primary, President Donald Trump used Truth Social to accuse the state's Democrats of trying to "steal" the elections for governor and Los Angeles mayor. He offered no evidence, singling out mail-in ballots and the pace of the count as proof of "BIG Cheating." Under California law, ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted as they arrive and counties have up to 30 days to certify — a long-standing standard practice, not an irregularity.

Trump went further, asserting that the vote count was "under investigation" by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. As of this writing that claim is unsubstantiated: the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment when asked about the president's statement, and no opening of a formal probe has been independently confirmed. The entry records the president's assertion of a federal investigation as part of the disinformation event itself, not as a verified law-enforcement action.

A sitting president publicly delegitimizing a lawful, in-progress election count — recasting ordinary mail-in and post-Election-Day counting procedures as fraud without evidence — falls within election denial and coordinated election disinformation. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, whose office oversees the count, has defended the timeline as prioritizing voters' rights and election security over speed.