Trump repeats claim that California election was rigged – US politics live

Welcome to our coverage of US politics. Donald Trump has repeated a claim made during an NBC interview on Sunday that he walked out of claiming that the California gubernatorial race is rigged. On Monday, the US president posted a screenshot of congressman Abe Hamadeh ’s post on X, who claimed that California is “incapable of running free and fair elections consistent with our constitution”. Trump posted the screenshot on Truth Social, with the original post by Hamadeh referring to election data platform Decision Desk HQ that Nithya Raman is projected to win the second of two spots in the CA Los Angeles mayor non-partisan primary election. In response, Trump wrote: “No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!” This comes after he walked out of an NBC interview aired on Sunday, where he falsely claimed that the California gubernatorial race was “rigged” while asserting untrue claims of cheating in the 2020 US presidential elections. “It’s four days and they aren’t even close to counting [ballots],” he said – as interviewer Kristen Welker argued that this was standard process in California. When he was asked about what his evidence was to suggest that the California election is “rigged”, Trump accused Welker of being “crooked” and later “stupid”. When NBC tried to continue to pose questions to the president, he took off his microphone, and said: “Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.” Read the full story about Trump walking out of the NBC interview here: Trump walks out of interview with NBC’s Meet the Press after clash over election claims Read more In other developments: Later today Trump is expected to attend a campaign rally in New Jersey, before attending the Knicks game in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Trump’s appearance at the game means that there will be heightened security, a strict no-bag policy and airport-style screening for attenders of the game. This comes after a stabbing occurred in Penn Station directly below the arena, injuring six people. The suspect is in custody. The president also claimed that Iran’s military had been “virtually decapitated” as the war between the Middle Eastern country and the US reaches its 100th day. Earlier today, Trump urged Iran and Israel to “stop shooting” in a social media post. You can follow our Middle East liveblog coverage here: Middle East crisis live: Iran announces end of attacks against Israel as Trump claims both sides want ‘immediate ceasefire’ Read more