Trump claims he would have won California if ‘Jesus Christ counted the votes,’ calls state election system ‘rigged’

Key points

• US President Donald Trump intensified his long-running attacks on US elections on Wednesday (May 20) by claiming he would have carried heavily Democratic California if “Jesus Christ” personally counted the ballots.
• Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing to deliver a commencement address to the United States Coast Guard Academy, Trump alleged that California’s election system is fundamentally corrupt.
• “If we had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes, I would have won California because I do great with Hispanics.
• But it’s a rigged vote.” Trump specifically targeted California’s widespread mail-in voting system, claiming that elections in the state are “very dishonest.” “You have all the mail-in ballots, everything else.
• Very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest.” He further alleged that millions of ballots were improperly distributed.