‘THEY RIGGED THE ELECTION?!’: Trump allegedly alludes to a rigged election and the internet is freaking out

During the inauguration, President Donald Trump claimed that his allies “rigged” the election in his favor. While this was largely delivered as a joke, online spectators were unsettled, to say the least.

“We had our top people, Wasserman—they all came in for the Olympics,” Trump spoke of Casey Wasserman, the chairman for the 2028 LA Olympics. Trump then expressed disappointment that he wouldn’t be president during the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. He continued, “I said, ‘I won’t be there! I won’t be your president.’ But then they rigged the election, and now we won, so I will be your president for the Olympics.” The crowd erupted into a cheer, but those online were disturbed by Trump’s words.

One wrote on X, “THEY RIGGED THE ELECTION?!” They urged Congress not to swear the president-elect in. Another X user called for Trump to be arrested for admitting to rigging the election on television.

Elon Musk’s involvement

Concerns about vote rigging worsened when Trump dubiously praised Elon Musk for his expertise with computers. “He was a popular guy, and he’s very effective. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania in a landslide.” The message was cryptic, but many social media users connected this statement with rigging votes. The discourse surrounding Trump’s comments largely revolved around the thought that he couldn’t be held accountable because of his presidential immunity.

Taking the president-elect’s words at face value doesn’t help his case in the court of public opinion. In the worst-case scenario for Musk, he wouldn’t have any presidential pardon to spare him. If he’s found guilty of tampering with voting machines, he will have to face the full force of the law. Needless to say, Trump seemingly admitting to vote rigging is rich coming from him. After all, he spent years accusing Democrats of rigging the 2020 presidential election when he didn’t win.

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Vanessa Esguerra

Vanessa Esguerra (She/They) has been a Contributing Writer for The Mary Sue since 2023. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy, she (happily) rejected law school in 2021 and has been a full-time content writer since. Vanessa is currently taking her Master's degree in Japanese Studies in hopes of deepening her understanding of the country's media culture in relation to pop culture, women, and queer people like herself. She speaks three languages but still manages to get lost in the subways of Tokyo with her clunky Japanese. Fueled by iced coffee brewed from local cafés in Metro Manila, she also regularly covers anime and video games while queuing for her next match in League of Legends.

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