DONALD TRUMP continued to push the discredited claim that the US presidential election was stolen from him.
The former US President doubled down on the assertion during his first rally since departing the White House earlier this year.
Speaking at the first of several “revenge rallies” at Lorain County Fairgrounds in Ohio, near Cleveland, the 75-year-old branded Joe Biden’s victory as “the scam of the century.”
“The 2020 presidential election was rigged,” he told those in attendance.
“We won that election in a landslide…This was the scam of the century and this was the crime of the century.”
No local or state election officials found any evidence of mass voter fraud while Trump’s own attorney general and appointed judges have rebuffed claims of vote rigging.
The “revenge rallies” are being held as part of a concerted campaign to try and oust those Republicans who voted in favour of impeaching Trump in the wake of the Capitol riots on January 6.
His first target was Republican representative Anthony Gonzalez, with Trump urging the thousands in attendance to vote for Max Miller, a former White House aide hoping to replace the incumbent in his congressional seat.
Trump previously vowed to back any candidate running against one of the 10 GOP House members who voted against him in his second impeachment trial.
Miller, who is running against Gonzalez in the 2022 mid-terms, was described by Trump during the rally as an “incredible patriot” and “great guy who loves the people of Ohio.”
The former president’s supporters could be heard chanting “Trump won” during the rally while controversial far-right Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Green spoke in support of Trump.
“President Trump is my president too,” she told those in attendance.
A man also gave a PowerPoint-style presentation on the “algorithm” he believes was used to “manipulate election results.”
Trump continues to promote falsehoods around the election result despite President Biden’s victory being validated at every conceivable level.
Question marks remain over whether Trump will attempt to run for re-election in 2024, after prosecutors in Manhattan warned he could yet face criminal charges over his business dealings.
