President Trump has sought to deceive the American people into believing that the results of the 2026 midterms cannot be trusted. The president has claimed, again and again, that American elections are “rigged” and that Democrats “cheat like hell.” This deception is a pretext to disrupt the election and deny the results if his favored candidates lose. Deceive, disrupt, deny.
But what do the voters think about the administration’s midterm deception campaign?
This month, If you can keep it conducted a national poll with YouGov to find out. The poll was fielded between October 9 and October 20 and surveyed 806 voters. The results are weighted to be nationally representative. The margin of error is ±3.8 percent.1
The results are striking.
Donald Trump has failed to convince the country, or even a plurality of Republicans, that the election will be fraudulent or that federal intervention may be justified. To be clear: Election denialism remains a virulent belief among approximately one in five voters. This may push some elected officials to dangerous and extreme places. But these are still minority views. The authoritarian faction’s failure to win over the rest of the electorate is a very positive sign for democracy.