US EditionWhite House says Trump was ‘joking’ as he repeatedly talks about canceling midterm elections
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was joking about canceling midterm elections amid his frustration over potential Republican losses, noting presidents rarely win midterms.
- During Thursday's press briefing, Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said at the Jan 15, 2026 White House press briefing that `The president was simply joking` and he was "speaking facetiously."
- President Donald Trump earlier this week raised canceling midterms at the Kennedy Center and to Reuters, saying presidents "don't do well in the midterms" and boasting "we shouldn't even have an election."
- A reporter pressed Karoline Leavitt at the White House briefing, and she snapped when asked why Trump kept mentioning canceling elections, saying she was present for the closed-door Reuters interview where he boasted about "doing such a great job."
- Amid concern about democratic norms, critics warned the remarks echo plans to seize control, while federal law leaves no room to postpone congressional elections, triggering calls for accountability.
- Historically, President Donald Trump first suggested postponing the 2020 presidential election in July 2020, and his refusal to accept the 2020 result alongside the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack raises broader democratic risks.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Trump can't cancel elections — but he can 'mess them up substantially': expert
President Donald Trump turned heads earlier this week when he quipped that the U.S. "shouldn't even have an election" in November. One expert is now cautioning that while Trump may not be able to call off the midterms entirely, he has several tools at his disposal that he may use to dissuade Americans from casting ballots.In a Friday essay for his Substack, Seth Masket — who is the director of the Center for American Politics at the University o…
Trump Keeps “Joking” About Canceling Midterms Amid Threat of Insurrection Act Invocation
Any so-called jokes about canceling elections cannot be treated as harmless in a moment when chaos appears increasingly engineered. ... The post Trump Keeps “Joking” About Canceling Midterms Amid Threat of Insurrection Act Invocation appeared first on The New American.
Kimmel Can't Believe Trump Was Joking About Canceling Elections
Kimmel Can't Believe Trump Was Joking About Canceling Elections The late night comedians love the idea that they can trigger President Trump into posting lengthy Truth Social posts about them. This is especially true of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, but on his Thursday show, Kimmel had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that Trump may be trolling him and his fellow liberals when he recently mused about canceling elections. Kimmel began a nearl…
Dementia Ward Nurse: Trump's Decaying Brain Was Only Joking To Reuters About Cancelling Elections
Karoline Leavitt, that is too much cheek filler.On Wednesday, Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland sat down in the Oval Office for a Dutch oven exclusive interview with President Donald J. Trump and Karoline Leavitt, the most enthusiastic candy striper in his dementia ward.But Reuters did not publish a full transcript of that interview, and no audio or video clips of it! Only still photos, a debriefing with Holland, and a series of ar…
Donald Trump just went there – and we can’t afford to take the bait
Yesterday Donald Trump publicly “joked” that he’s doing such a great job, they should just cancel the midterm elections. Trump’s people obviously put this thought in his head so he’d go out and blab it, and they did it for good reason. Just as Trump was making this remark yesterday, the usually correct Cook Political Report shifted a whopping eighteen 2026 House races incrementally in the Democrats’ direction – including several races that went …
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