Donald Trump stated that mail-in voting is “totally rigged.”
Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends on September 12, 2025 and talked about mail-in voting. Transcript at end. Research assistance by ChatGPT.
Donald Trump stated that mail-in voting is ?totally rigged,? citing a commission led by Jimmy Carter that supposedly concluded that ?anytime you have mail-in voting, it?s a crooked election.? He further claimed California does not use ballot boxes, instead sending out 38 million ballots, ?nobody knows where the hell they?re going,? and that Democrats disproportionately benefit from mail-in ballots.
Summary:
Trump?s claims misrepresent historical findings and current voting practices. The Carter-Baker Commission did raise concerns about absentee ballots in 2005 but did not conclude that mail-in voting was inherently fraudulent. California does, in fact, use ballot drop boxes, and while the state mails ballots to all registered voters, they are tracked with strict verification systems. There is no credible evidence that mail-in voting is ?totally rigged.?
Accuracy of Claims:
- ?Mail-in voting is totally rigged.?
There is no evidence that mail-in voting is ?rigged.? Multiple studies and court reviews have found that voter fraud, including mail-in ballot fraud, is exceedingly rare in the United States (Brennan Center for Justice, 2017; MIT Election Data + Science Lab, 2020). -
?Jimmy Carter ? said anytime you have mail-in voting, it?s a crooked election.?
This misrepresents the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform (2005). The commission did express concerns that absentee ballots are ?the largest source of potential voter fraud,? but it did not say that mail-in voting inevitably leads to ?crooked elections.? Instead, it recommended safeguards such as voter ID and secure ballot handling (Carter & Baker, 2005). -
?California doesn?t have ballot boxes.?
This is false. California law requires counties to provide secure ballot drop boxes, and the state?s official election website lists their locations. For example, during the 2024 general election, California had thousands of ballot drop boxes available statewide (California Secretary of State, 2024). -
?They send out 38 million ballots, nobody knows where the hell they?re going.?
California mails ballots to all registered voters (around 22 million in 2024, not 38 million). Each ballot is individually barcoded and tracked through the ?Where?s My Ballot?? system, which allows voters to confirm mailing, receipt, and counting (California Secretary of State, 2024). The claim that ?nobody knows where they?re going? is inaccurate. -
?Democrats get more than Republicans [through mail-in ballots].?
It is true that Democrats tend to use mail-in voting more frequently than Republicans in recent elections. For instance, in 2020, a higher percentage of Democratic voters used vote-by-mail compared to Republicans, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pew Research Center, 2020). However, this reflects voter preference, not fraud or a ?rigged? system.
Logical Fallacies Identified:
- Strawman Fallacy: Trump misrepresents the Carter-Baker Commission by claiming it declared mail-in voting always fraudulent.
- Overgeneralization: He claims mail-in voting is ?totally rigged? without credible evidence or distinction between secure and insecure practices.
- Appeal to Fear: Suggesting that tens of millions of ballots are unaccounted for when tracking systems exist.
Conspiratorial Thinking:
Trump?s statements suggest a conspiracy that mail-in voting is intentionally designed to favor Democrats and undermine elections. This aligns with broader election denial narratives that lack factual support.
References:
Brennan Center for Justice. (2017). The truth about voter fraud. New York University School of Law. Retrieved from https://www.brennancenter.org
California Secretary of State. (2024). Voting by mail and ballot drop boxes. Retrieved from https://www.sos.ca.gov
Carter, J., & Baker, J. A. (2005). Building confidence in U.S. elections: Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform. The Carter Center.
MIT Election Data + Science Lab. (2020). Voting by mail and absentee voting. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pew Research Center. (2020, October 13). Modest shifts in the electorate?s partisan composition since 2016. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org
Transcript:
Donald Trump on “Fox and Friends” 2025-09-12 excerpt.
Donald Trump 00:34:29-00:34:39 (10 sec)
But unfortunately, we don’t have so many ballot boxes because they have mail-in voting. Which is totally rigged. You know, there are a lot of problems. I like ballot boxes where you can — they do mail-in voting all over the place, which is which is rigged.
Brian Kilmeade 00:34:39-00:34:39 ( sec)
Right.
Donald Trump 00:34:39-00:34:58 (19 sec)
Anytime — Jimmy Carter, they had a commission. He said anytime you have mail-in voting, it’s a crooked election, OK? And they have got to stop. But I say — so I can’t really say at the ballot box because in some cases like California doesn’t have ballot boxes. They send out 38 million ballots, nobody knows where the hell they’re going.
Donald Trump 00:34:58-00:35:02 (4 sec)
Then they come back. Democrats get more than Republicans.
Brian Kilmeade 00:35:02-00:35:02 ( sec)
Right.
Donald Trump 00:35:02-00:35:06 (3 sec)
It’s so unfair the system and we’re going to fix this system.