Trump claims ‘forged ballots’ have ‘infected’ Florida recounts of governor & Senate votes

Recounts to decide Florida’s next governor and senator have been tainted by foul play, Donald Trump has claimed, sparking accusations that the president is undermining the democratic process by pushing conspiracies.

Ascending once again to his presidential Twitter pulpit, Donald Trump wrote on Monday that the Florida recounts were a sham and that the elections should be called in favor of outgoing Governor Rick Scott and former US Representative for Florida's 6th congressional district Ron DeSantis, both Republicans holding slim leads in their respective races for Senate and governor.

“Large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible – ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!” the president tweeted.

Basically everything Donald Trump tweets becomes headline news, but this particularly incendiary claim nearly broke the internet.

“This is not a joke. This is another move toward autocracy – a president interfering in a lawful process to count ballots and also lying about non-existent fraud,” warned Washington Post columnist EJ Dionne.

Media outlets wasted little time in shutting down Trump’s allegations, tweeting out “facts” to counter the president’s “claim.”

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum – the Democratic candidate facing off with DeSantis for Florida’s Senate seat – speculated that the president was nervous that a proper recount could reverse the GOP’s fortunes in Florida. “You sound nervous. #CountEveryVote,” he wrote.

The close margins in both elections – DeSantis led Gillum by less than 0.5 percentage points, while the Senate race saw an even smaller margin of 0.25 percentage points in Scott’s favor – triggered an automatic recount, with results expected for Thursday.

While Trump’s choice of words were, as always, questionable at best, Florida’s courts would likely dispute the notion that there is nothing fishy about the hotly contested elections.

A Florida judge has sided with Scott in a suit filed against Broward County elections supervisor, Brenda Snipes, and Palm Beach County election supervisor Susan Busher, which alleges the mishandling of ballots. The court ordered that both officials turn over records for inspection – but Snipes did not comply.

The case has raised eyebrows – even prompting the Green Party’s Jill Stein to weigh in.

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