Trump votes with Melania in Palm Beach as he tears into ballot box chaos and says it’s his best campaign ever
President Donald Trump said he felt “confident” after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, even as polls show the race between him and Kamala Harris is nearly even.
The 78-year-old was accompanied by wife Melania, who kept her sunglasses on as her husband answered questions from reporters, with just hours until the polls close in what would be one of the closest elections in history.
The former first lady answered a quick question about how she was feeling: “Very good. Thank you.’
The former president, wearing his signature “Make America Great Again” hat, answered many questions and denounced reports of chaos at polling stations across the country. He also wore an “I Voted” sticker.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “All I hear is that it will take a long time in certain states.”
He specifically mentioned Pennsylvania, the battleground state that could determine the winner. Polls show the race there is even.
“I hear they won’t have an answer in Pennsylvania for another two or three days. I think it’s an absolute shame if that’s the case,” Trump noted. “In certain states it will take a long time and it won’t even be close. It won’t be that close. They say I will win the state, but it will take a long time to certify it.”
Donald Trump and Melania Trump after voting in Florida
He argued that if more Republicans voted than Democrats, he should be declared the winner. There is no way to know if Republicans voted for him or an alternative.
‘It looks like we have a very substantial lead. It appears that many more Republicans vote today than Democrats. If you have an advantage and we have a bigger voice, it means you are doing very well. They have to choose a winner. And they should name a winner, yes,” he said.
But he said he would concede if he lost a “fair” election.
“If it’s a fair election, I would be the first to acknowledge it if I lost. And so far I think it’s been fair,” he said. Trump has indicated during his campaign that he does not trust the voting process and could challenge the results if Harris wins.
‘I ran a great campaign. I think this might have been the best of the three. We did great in the first, much better in the second. Something happened. And this was the best – I would say this was the best campaign we’ve run,” he said.
Trump admitted that regardless of the outcome of the presidential race, it would be his last campaign.
“I would think so,” he said, adding that he feels “sad and very satisfied.”
“I think we’re going to have a really big victory today,” Trump noted.
The former president also slammed Oprah Winfrey for supporting Harris, saying he had been on her show and “she’s been to Mar-a-Lago a lot.”
There appears to be strong voter interest across the country, with long lines at polling stations across the country. The counting of votes continues beyond election night on Tuesday and it is unclear when there will be a final result.
In the 2020 presidential race, it took four days to declare a winner. Regardless, Trump has baselessly claimed that if he were to lose, it would be due to fraud.
The former president will spend the day at his Mar-a-Lago estate before a party at a nearby convention center.
Donald Trump walks with Melania after voting at the Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach
Trump opted to vote in person on Tuesday. Election division figures showed that 50% of Floridians voted early by mail.
Trump can legally vote even though he is a convicted felon.
The former president was convicted this year in New York State Court of falsifying records.
The state of Florida generally prohibits felons from voting until they have served their sentences or had their voting rights restored through the State Clemency Board.
But those rules don’t apply to Trump, as Florida law also states that those convicted out of state are bound by the voting laws of the state in which they were convicted.
A New York State law that allows criminals to vote as long as they are not in prison. That’s why Trump can vote in Florida.
Trump is expected to be sentenced on November 26 in New York and could receive probation or up to four years in prison.
Donald Trump said – along with his wife Melania – that this would be his last campaign
Donald Trump held what he said was his final campaign rally. He said he had detained more than 900
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff at Harris’ last rally in Philadelphia
The former president held the final rally of his campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the early hours of Tuesday morning after campaigning all day.
As he took the stage shortly after midnight, Trump railed against Harris, saying: “Nobody lies like this Kamala,” calling her a “person with a very low IQ.”
His comments came on a day when Harris’ campaign noted that she had not mentioned Trump’s name along the way.
Trump falsely claimed that Harris only had a few hundred people at her rally, even though she drew thousands of people on Monday.
Harris delivered her closing argument with a rally in Philadelphia. She spent several stops in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania on Monday.
Harris and Trump focused on seven battleground states on Election Day, five of which were carried by Trump in 2016 before going to Joe Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Arizona and Georgia.
Nevada and North Carolina, which were elected by Democrats and Republicans respectively in the last two elections, were also closely contested.
Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a crime to take over the Oval Office.