Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov responded critically to Donald Trump’s latest comments about election oversight.
“He’s a mad man and is just straight up telling us that they’re going to meddle with the election,” Tarlov wrote on X after sharing a clip from an interview between Trump and Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, conservative media personality, and former Deputy Director of the FBI.
The interview, part of Bongino’s podcast relaunch, featured Trump once again pushing debunked claims of widespread voter fraud while calling on Republicans to take dramatic action ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Trump Says GOP Should ‘Nationalize the Voting’
During the interview, Trump said, “These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally.”
He followed that with a call to action: “The Republicans should say, we want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”
Trump’s remarks came just days after the FBI raided an elections facility outside of Atlanta, seizing 2020 ballots and other voting records.
Without offering evidence, he claimed, “We have states that I won that show I didn’t win. Now you’re going to see something in Georgia.”
He then teased that the FBI’s findings in Georgia could back up his claims, saying, “You’re going to see some interesting things come out.”
Trump continued pushing the narrative that he won the 2020 election, saying, “I won that election by so much, everybody does it.”
Unfounded Claims and Constitutional Red Flags
Politico reported that Trump’s suggestion contradicts the U.S. Constitution, which gives states the power to run their own elections.
The idea of “nationalizing” elections would require a major federal overhaul and has no legal backing under current law.
Despite this, Trump leaned into the claim, pointing to states he called “so crooked” and insisting, “they’re counting votes” unfairly.
He also referenced a Colorado case, claiming a “wonderful woman, 72 years old, had cancer” was jailed because she challenged people “dumping ballots into a box.”
He added, “She’s still in jail and they better let her out fast.”
Fact-checkers have found no credible evidence to support Trump’s broader claims of mass fraud in the 2020 election.
Multiple audits, recounts, and court rulings, including in Georgia, confirmed that Joe Biden legitimately won the presidency.
From Voting to Venezuela
After the voting remarks, Trump veered into other topics, including his opinion of past presidents and foreign policy.
He called former President Barack Obama “the great divider,” and said Jimmy Carter “didn’t exactly have the hit on Venezuela that I had.”
Trump also claimed credit for a military operation he called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” which he said eliminated Iran’s nuclear capabilities, a mission not confirmed by any known military record.
He then said the U.S. had taken 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, which were being shipped to Houston.
“We talk to them every single day,” Trump said of the Venezuelan government.
“We’re gonna help them a lot, and we’re gonna benefit by it also. It’s gonna be great.”
Mounting Concerns Over Federal Election Control
In recent weeks, Trump has intensified his rhetoric about the 2020 election and future voting procedures.
In January, he said, “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did” in relation to the election.
His Justice Department has also sued nearly two dozen states, demanding access to voter registration rolls.
While the White House has not confirmed any executive action related to nationalizing elections, Trump previously wrote on social media, “The States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes.”
Despite these claims, the Constitution and decades of precedent place election control in the hands of states, not the federal government.
For critics like Tarlov, the concern isn’t just about legal theory; it’s about what Trump’s words may signal if Republicans in power act on them.
IMAGE CREDIT: “President Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.