It's time for Congress to intervene in California

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“Compromised”: With votes still being counted, right-wing media promote election misinformation and conspiracy theories about California primaries

Right-wing media figures have accused Democrats of “cheating” in California races and called for the federal government to “step in”

Written by Reed McMaster

Published

As California continues counting mail-in ballots for its primary elections, right-wing media were quick to whip up conspiracy theories and accuse Democrats of cheating.

Californians wrapped up voting in their 2026 primaries on June 2 but vote counting is far from over, with multiple major races such as the state gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral elections being too close to call.

California historically takes a long time to tabulate election results given the state’s policies counting mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day that come in within a week. The overwhelming majority of ballots in the state’s elections are cast by mail, and The New York Times reports “in past California elections as much as 50 percent of the vote has remained to be counted after Election Day.”

After primary voting closed on June 2, some right-wing media figures quickly began promoting baseless claims that Democrats were “stealing and they’re cheating” in the California elections and argued that mail-in voting “leaves the door open for fraud.” Right-wing figures also claimed California elections are “compromised” and suggested officials may “manufacture” votes while counting results, calling the process “Third World shit.” President Donald Trump also added fuel to the fire, creating multiple posts on his Truth Social platform baselessly accusing Democrats of “stealing” California primaries.

  • Right-wing media figures claim Democrats are “stealing” and “cheating” elections in California, arguing that mail-in voting “leaves the door open for fraud" and warning of “shenanigans from the local government”

    • Podcaster Benny Johnson claimed, “You can already see that they’re stealing and they’re cheating” in the LA mayoral election. He said, “Democrats could still try and rig this thing and they're doing it right now. We have to stay vigilant. They want us to be euphoric and to act like we won the thing, and they'll sneak in and steal it in the dark of night. So we have to stay vigilant and watch every single vote. And you can already see that they're stealing and they're cheating.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 6/3/26]
    • Podcaster Tim Pool: “It appears, with new information coming in, we can now say the Democrats are cheating in the California race.” [YouTube, Timcast, 6/4/26]
    • Fox News host Laura Ingraham questioned the integrity of California elections and called on the federal government to “step in.” She said, “At least the voters in California and across the country will have a fuller picture of the lengths to which Democrats will go to hold on to power. And maybe, just maybe then, they'll demand change in what many of us believe is potentially the most corrupt voting system in the Western world.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 6/3/26]
    • Fox host Sean Hannity: “President Trump rightly is calling out Democrats, saying they’re probably cheating, trying to steal” California elections. On his radio show, Hannity endorsed Trump’s allegations about Democrats stealing the election, and claimed, “This is not complicated. They want it to be complicated, and -- the only reason I can come up with in my little, you know, conservative brain is that they don't want integrity because maybe, maybe they get to play tricks. I don't know for sure. But I don't trust them. Why should I trust them?” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 6/4/26]
    • On The Megyn Kelly Show, podcaster Adam Carolla called mail-in voting “DEI,” claiming it leaves “the door open for fraud.” He added, “It's like — it’s DEI. And here's why I'm saying it's DEI. The most insidious thing about DEI is that you being on Harvard campus, seeing a young Black man walk across the quad and you think to yourself is he really supposed to be here or is it that just a DEI thing? Is that just an affirmative action thing?' That's the worst part about it, the part that you have to think that way. So anyone who wins, Karen Bass over Caruso, or Spencer — Nithiya Raman catches up to Pratt in the next two weeks. We all sit around and go hmm, I wonder what that's about. As a voter, I don't want to think that way. I just want to tally all the votes and get the conclusion that night.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 6/3/26] 
    • Radio host Vince Coglianese argued that “when Democrats are counting the votes, you can count on Democrats stealing the election, usually.” He said, “Big election results are — well, they're not done. They're coming in in California. And when Democrats are counting the votes, you can count on Democrats stealing the election, usually. We'll keep an eye on what exactly is going on in California today.” [Rumble, Vince, 6/3/26]
    • Hannity claimed that candidates Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt will advance from the primaries barring any “shenanigans from the local government.” He said, “In California, by the way, our friends Steve Hilton and Spencer Pratt are both advancing to the general election — barring, of course, any shenanigans from the local government.” [Fox News, Hannity, 6/3/26; The New York Times, 6/3/26]
    • Radio host Megyn Kelly called the ongoing vote count “Third World shit" and argued that Californians’ chance at “real change” is “in serious danger of being stolen out from under them." She said, “If you don't smell a rat, your olfactory nerves are not working. This is sick. This is no way to run an election. There will be no public confidence in this if it doesn't track the way in-person vote tracked as of Tuesday. I mean this is Third World shit." Kelly went on, “You’ve got a lot of Californians out there who want real change — and have it available to them in, like, a realistic way. This could actually happen, for the first time in a long time, and it just feels very much like it is in serious danger of getting stolen out from under them." [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 6/4/26]
    • On the podcast of election denier group True the Vote, founder Catherine Engelbrecht called current vote tallies in Los Angeles County “very suspicious” and argued California's electoral process is “compromised.” She said, “It does look like it will be Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt even though the numbers are very suspicious.” She added, “This is a sad expression of a state that has so few safeguards and that has allowed itself to be so compromised, and it makes it so incredibly difficult to break through with any kind of reform because the system is near lockdown.” [Rumble, True the Vote Live, 6/3/26; Media Matters, 8/6/24]
    • Fox News host Will Cain suggested California may “manufacture” votes as the state continues counting primary ballots. He said, “It was a big primary night in California. Yes, Election Day was yesterday. No, California still doesn’t have a final count. Because, in a fact that could make Somalia blush, it could take up to a month to count — or manufacture — the votes in California.” [Fox News, Will Cain Show, 6/3/26]