President Trump on Friday encouraged Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt to challenge the outcome of his primary defeat.
The Republican president again promoted his recent assertions that California’s election system was “rigged.”
“Spencer Pratt…He shouldn’t go away quietly. He should protest because it was, in my very strong opinion, that was a rigged election,” Trump said in remarks delivered to the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
Trump then drew a parallel between Pratt’s defeat and what he suggested might have happened to Republican Steve Hilton in the governor’s race had he not stepped in.
“And then they tried to hurt Steve Hilton, too, and I called the U.S. attorney and said, ‘You have to look into this.’”
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Earlier in the week, Trump told supporters at a rally that he had used the disputed shift in Spencer Pratt’s election results to pressure a U.S. attorney in California, arguing that the move helped spare Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton from losing his primary.
Pratt’s defeat — after he held second place on Election Day before falling behind once mail-in ballots were tallied — stirred claims and speculation about possible voter manipulation.
Trump has amplified those claims while attacking California’s lengthy ballot-counting process, which can stretch for weeks and often draws criticism. He has also made clear that he wants to scrutinize mail voting, a method widely used across the state.
On Election Day, it seemed Pratt would make the runoff to face off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Instead, socialist city councilmember Nithya Raman surged from late-arriving mail ballots counted days later to secure the last top-two spot for the general election.
Pratt has seemingly conceded the election, but he has insisted he is not going way. He had dropped a bombshell concession video that seemed more like a threat, claiming he has evidence he will reveal that could take Bass or Raman down.
“You think you can get rid of me that easily? I know a lot of dimwitted jerks thought I was in this for a grift. That I was going to roll up and leave town if I didn’t get into city hall,” Pratt had said.
