Following a post on social media made by Donald Trump, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum was confronted on Sunday about the former president “threatening” election workers.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the Republican presidential nominee who will face off against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in November wrote that the upcoming election would be heavily scrutinized to avoid cheating.
“CEASE & DESIST: I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election,” Trump wrote. “It was a Disgrace to our Nation! Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again.”
Since losing the election to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud was the reason why he lost. He and his allies brought 62 lawsuits challenging the results, 61 of which were thrown out. One succeeded at first but was then overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Trump has long accused the Democratic Party and Biden of cheating. However, this comes as the former president is the defendant in two criminal trials relating to alleged election interference, one federal, and one in Georgia. In both cases, he denies any wrongdoing and says he is subject to a political witch hunt.
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In a Sunday appearance on NBC News’ Meet The Press with host Kristen Welker, Burgum, a Trump ally, was asked about the former president’s post and if “it’s appropriate for Trump to be threatening election workers in this way?”
In response, the Republican governor said he believes Trump is saying “everybody has to follow the rules.”
“I think it speaks to a concern that Americans have…We don’t just have one election in this country. We have elections that go over 3,000 counties and many of those counties have different rules. So, I think what President Trump is saying is that if we’re going to have free and fair elections, everybody has to follow the rules and just put people on notice,” Burgum said.
He added: “I think this could have been a statement that could have come from the Harris campaign as well because everybody’s concerned in this country about making sure that our elections are free and fair.”
Welker pushed back and asked again if it’s appropriate in “any scenario” stating that “a lot of those concerns are being fueled by these types of statements” by Trump as “he seems to be threatening these political operatives.”
Burgum replied, “What I think is appropriate is that we keep working hard as a country and make sure we have a belief in our elections and trust in our elections.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s and Harris’ campaign via email for comment.
Burgum had previously emerged as a frontrunner to be Trump’s vice-presidential running mate, before Ohio Senator JD Vance was chosen in July. Speculation about Burgum had been driven by reports about the pair forming a close personal friendship, with the governor appearing frequently on the campaign trail for Trump.
