Trump says only cheating can beat his Minnesota Senate pick; Democrats object

President Trump said Monday that the only way his endorsed candidate can lose Minnesota's U.S. Senate race is if they cheat. He made the claim in a Truth Social post endorsing Republican Michele Tafoya, giving her his "complete and total endorsement" ¹².

Democrat Peggy Flanagan, the state's lieutenant governor, is Tafoya's opponent. The seat is open because Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat, is retiring ³.

What Trump wrote

In the post, Trump wrote: "don't allow them to play with the votes after the race is over." He added: "the federal government will be watching closely" ¹².

the only way she can lose is if they cheat by playing games with the ballots as they come in.

Trump also wrote, "i won minnesota three times, but they didn't give me the victories" ¹². The posts offered no evidence of cheating in the excerpts we reviewed ¹².

From Channel GOPFlanagan lists what Tafoya backs alongside TrumpPeggy Flanagan · 112 plays · captioned, with the source named

How Democrats responded

Lexi Byler, a spokesperson for Flanagan's campaign, answered the endorsement directly ¹. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon disputed claims of fraud in the state's voting and defended its results as legitimate, Breitbart reported ¹.

to be clear - trump has lost minnesota three times, and michele tafoya is about to be number four.

Smith had already criticized the endorsement. After Trump first backed Tafoya at an Ohio rally, Smith wrote that he did it "because at the end of the day, he knows she'll just do whatever he wants" ³. We could not confirm her newest remarks from a source we could read, so they are not quoted here.

A tightening race

Polls in the weeks since the primary have shown a tightening race that is within the margin of error, CBS Minnesota reported ³. Newsweek reported an InsiderAdvantage poll taken Sept. 28-29 of 1,200 likely voters. It had Flanagan ahead 46 percent to 45 percent, with a margin of error of 2.95 points ⁵.

Tafoya has kept some distance from Trump. In an ad she says, "When Trump is right, I'll work with him. When he's wrong, I'll stand up for Minnesota" ¹⁴. Tafoya has also said that the state's verdict on Nov. 3 would be the ultimate endorsement for her ¹⁴.

What happens next

Minnesota votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Trump post does not say what federal agencies would do or who would be "watching" ¹².

That matters because of what the post says about the count. It casts a Tafoya loss as cheating ¹. The pattern is a familiar one. An official pre-labels a possible loss as fraud, and the public is then asked to doubt the result. Simon says the state's results are legitimate ¹.

The Record

1. Sep 29, 2026InsiderAdvantage poll taken Sept. 28-29 had Flanagan 46%, Tafoya 45% ⁵.
2. Oct 13, 2026CBS Minnesota reported that Sen. Tina Smith criticized Trump's endorsement of Tafoya ³.
3. Oct 26, 2026Trump posted that the federal government "will be watching closely" and that Tafoya can lose only if they cheat ¹².

Sources

1. Breitbart, “Trump Warns Michele Tafoya Can Only Lose Minnesota Race if Democrats Cheat” (2026-10-26). breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/26/trump-michele-tafoya-minne
2. Raw Story, “Trump buries ominous threat in latest flurry of MAGA endorsements: 'Will be watching'” (2026-10-26). rawstory.com/trump-election-interference-2678147989/
3. CBS Minnesota, “Trump endorses Michele Tafoya, who once urged him not to run for president again” (2026-10-13). cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/trump-endorses-michele-tafoya-min
4. MPR News, “DFL, GOP candidates look to distance themselves from divisive figures like Trump, Walz” (2026-10-26). mprnews.org/story/2026/10/26/dfl-gop-candidates-look-to-dist
5. Newsweek, “Minnesota Senate Race Shaken by ICE, Fraud and Ilhan Omar Probe—What Polls Show” (2026-10-26). newsweek.com/minnesota-senate-race-ice-fraud-ilhan-omar-prob

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