Erin Burnett says Donald Trump is already looking for a way out of the 2026 midterm results.
CNN host Erin Burnett is sounding the alarm over Donald Trump’s desire to sow doubt about the midterm elections before the results are even known.
Tuesday At the frontBurnett, 50, analyzed the president’s latest comments on whether he accepts the midterm results, with forecasters favoring Democrats to take control of both chambers.
Erin Burnett has called into question what Trump considers a fair election.
“But what’s the plan? The plan if the Republicans suffer significant losses in this election?” » asked Burnett.
“Well, Trump is already looking for a way out,” she said, before playing footage of a reporter grilling Trump at Joint Base Andrews ahead of his trip to Texas to pick up Ken Paxton on Tuesday.
“And you will respect the results, whatever happens,” demanded the journalist.
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“I will if it’s an honest election,” Trump responded.
Trump said he would only accept the midterm results if he deemed them fair.
For Burnett, the devil was in the details.
“‘If it’s a fair election,’ that’s always the term. Isn’t it?” » she asked pointedly. “It’s not clear what he considers honest elections, because, of course, this country has honest elections.”
Citing a Washington Post analysis published Tuesday, Burnett said that “nearly 600 high-profile right-wing social media accounts, podcasts and other online outlets have posted more than 7,000 statements questioning the integrity of elections so far this year.”
For example, on Saturday, right-wing podcaster David Freeman, known as Gunther Eagleman, told his 1.7 million followers that “19 non-citizens were indicted in two swing states in one day, and Democrats still swear it will never happen.” The Post counted more than 200 messages from him this year questioning election rules.
Gunther Eagleman, a MAGA influencer, told his X followers that non-citizen voting is real and Democrats deny it.
Burnett then showed where these influencers were getting their arguments from: Trump himself, in Texas that afternoon.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton speaks during a midterm campaign rally alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, in Lubbock, Texas, U.S., October 27, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee
“Be careful of voter fraud. Be careful,” Trump said.
“We will pass Voter ID, Proof of Citizenship, and the Save America Act to defend our sacred American elections.”
Trump has already attached conditions.
Before the 2016 vote, Trump said he would accept the result “if I win.”
But since then, the situation has only gotten worse. The Post counted nearly 300 instances during his second term where Trump attacked the integrity of the election in speeches, remarks to reporters and social media posts. Its warnings about voter ID and mail-in ballots have increased sixfold since 2025, according to the Post.
On Monday on Truth Social, he dangled a $1 million reward for election fraud tips that result in a conviction.
Trump offered a $1 million bounty for reporting voter fraud a week before the midterm elections.
@realDonaldTrump / Social Truth
His allies have focused on two targets: non-citizen voting and mail-in fraud, The Post reported. Online warnings about both have doubled since the 2024 election cycle. Both types of fraud are rare, the BBC reports.
Bannon, a former Trump adviser, disagreed with him several times during his second term.
Steven Hirsch/via REUTERS
The Justice Department is already in court.
He sued to stop California from counting 20,000 mail-in ballots on unproven citizenship claims, a request rejected by the appeals court Monday, according to the Job. At a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter was also skeptical and is expected to rule Wednesday.
The Democrats are preparing for battle.
“Our assumption is that the president is not going to accept the results,” Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters last week, according to the Post.
San Diego, CA – Election workers check out absentee ballots at the Registrar of Voters in Kearny Mesa on Friday, October 23, 2026.
The San Diego Union-Tribune/The San Diego Union-Tribune / Getty Images
Only 28% of Americans expect Trump to honor the outcome if his party loses, according to a joint Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released Oct. 20.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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