Trump says Democrats must cheat to win. What do his supporters think?

## Summary
March 12, 2026 12:02 AM ET Frank Langfitt How Pennsylvania voters feel about Trump's claims of election fraud Listen · 4:58 4:58 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5745129/nx-s1-9682517" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript President Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9 in Doral, Fla. Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images HARRISBURG, Pa. — This week and in last month's State of the Union address, President Trump accused Democrats of planning to cheat in upcoming elections. "They want to cheat," said Trump during the State of the Union, providing no evidence. "Their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat, and we're going to stop it." NPR spent several days traveling across a pair of swing congressional districts in Pennsylvania — the 10th and the 7th — to find out what people think of the president's claim ahead of the midterms. Frank Langfitt/NPR hide caption toggle caption Frank Langfitt/NPR Patrick Basom, 53, an insurance salesman who is running for the York County Republican Committee, is also skeptical of Trump's allegations against the Democrats. "We don't expect them to cheat," said Basom. "I think there's been enough people that have seen what has happened over the last decade to make sure that it doesn't happen." Basom was referring to the president's false assertion that Democratic voter fraud robbed him of the 2020 election, which most Republicans found persuasive at the time. Frank Langfitt/NPR hide caption toggle caption Frank Langfitt/NPR "It seems like it's something that was, what, six years ago now?" said Smetana, 19, referring to Trump's original election fraud claim. "It's sort of just something that he says," said Smetana, who declined to say how he voted in 2024 citing American's right to a secret ballot. "No one really cares." President Trump election security Midterm elections 2020 presidential election Facebook Flipboard Email

## Article Content
National
Trump says Democrats must cheat to win. What do his supporters think?
March 12, 2026
12:02 AM ET
Frank Langfitt
How Pennsylvania voters feel about Trump's claims of election fraud
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President Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9 in Doral, Fla.
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images
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Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images
HARRISBURG, Pa. — This week and in last month's State of the Union address, President Trump accused Democrats of planning to cheat in upcoming elections.
"They want to cheat,"
said Trump during the State of the Union, providing no evidence. "Their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat, and we're going to stop it."
NPR spent several days traveling across a pair of swing congressional districts in Pennsylvania — the 10th and the 7th — to find out what people think of the president's claim ahead of the midterms.
Elections
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Nearly every Republican disagreed with the president. They said Democrats could win fair and square and dismissed the idea of mass voter fraud.
"
I don't think that that's how elections are won today," said Richard Cline, a 69-year-old preacher who was buying chocolate at a farmer's market across the river from Harrisburg. "It's too hard to really pull something off that would be considered fraud."
Richard Cline, a 69-year-old Republican, thinks there is cheating in voting, but not enough for any party to pull off election fraud.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
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Frank Langfitt/NPR
Patrick Basom, 53, an insurance salesman who is running for the York County Republican Committee, is also skeptical of Trump's allegations against the Democrats.
"We don't expect them to cheat," said Basom. "I think there's been enough people that have seen what has happened over the last decade to make sure that it doesn't happen."
Basom was referring to the president's false assertion that Democratic voter fraud robbed him of the 2020 election, which most Republicans found persuasive at the time. After Trump lost, an
NPR/PBS News/Marist poll
found that more than 70% of Republicans did not trust that the results were accurate.
But that was more than five years ago — eons in American politics. After Trump won in 2024, nearly 9 in 10 Republicans said the election
was well run
. While trust does fluctuate, Marist College pollster Lee Miringoff said there is bipartisan confidence in the system today.
"If you ask people whether they think ballots will be counted accurately, Democrats or Republicans ... 2 out of every 3 say, 'Yeah!' " Miringoff said.
Another recent survey by the
Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections
at the University of California at San Diego found that most Republicans no longer rely exclusively on Trump's word when it comes to evaluating the fairness and integrity of elections. The survey found that while 30% turn to Trump, the rest rely on other sources, including local and state election officials, local TV news and family members.
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"
The president is not the only voice in the room — or in the party — when it comes to trusting elections right now," said Thad Kousser, the center's co-director.
Norine Haertsch, whom NPR spoke to outside Harrisburg, said family influenced her view of election integrity. She said her daughter-in-law used to believe that Democrats stole the 2020 election but changed her mind after she went to work at York County's Office of Elections and Voter Registration.
"There's no way they can cheat," Haertsch said her daughter-in-law told her.
"I just trust in the government," Haertsch added.
Democrats who spoke to NPR said they thought Trump was accusing them of cheating to justify intervening in elections if it appears Republicans are poised to lose congressional seats in the midterms, as incumbent parties often do.
"
I think it's a lie and a pretext for election interference coming up in 2026 in November," said Thomas Fink, 79, who serves as vice president of the Camp Hill Borough Council.
Thomas Fink, a 79-year-old Democrat and local office-holder, thinks the president's claim that Democrats can only win if they cheat is a pretext for Republicans to interfere with the midterms.
Frank Langfitt/NPR
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Frank Langfitt/NPR
The White House responded by saying the president wants Americans to have full confidence in election administration, including photo ID for voting as well as accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of noncitizens.
"The media should not uncritically amplify these
Blue Anon
conspiracies

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images HARRISBURG, Pa. — This week and in last month's State of the Union address, President Trump accused Democrats of planning to cheat in upcoming elections. "They want to cheat," said Trump during the State of the Union, providing no evidence. "Their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat, and we're going to stop it." NPR spent several days traveling across a pair of swing congressional districts in Pennsylvania — the 10th and the 7th — to find out what people think of the president's claim ahead of the midterms.
- They said Democrats could win fair and square and dismissed the idea of mass voter fraud. " I don't think that that's how elections are won today," said Richard Cline, a 69-year-old preacher who was buying chocolate at a farmer's market across the river from Harrisburg. "It's too hard to really pull something off that would be considered fraud." Richard Cline, a 69-year-old Republican, thinks there is cheating in voting, but not enough for any party to pull off election fraud.
- Frank Langfitt/NPR hide caption toggle caption Frank Langfitt/NPR Patrick Basom, 53, an insurance salesman who is running for the York County Republican Committee, is also skeptical of Trump's allegations against the Democrats. "We don't expect them to cheat," said Basom. "I think there's been enough people that have seen what has happened over the last decade to make sure that it doesn't happen." Basom was referring to the president's false assertion that Democratic voter fraud robbed him of the 2020 election, which most Republicans found persuasive at the time.
- While trust does fluctuate, Marist College pollster Lee Miringoff said there is bipartisan confidence in the system today. "If you ask people whether they think ballots will be counted accurately, Democrats or Republicans ... 2 out of every 3 say, 'Yeah!' " Miringoff said.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers trump, president, election topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1201.