Former Republican President Donald Trump voted in person in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. He was accompanied by former First Lady Melania Trump, but not their 18-year-old son Barron.
Afterward, Trump engaged in a lengthy impromptu press conference during which he snapped at several reporters and took the opportunity to falsely claim he was already in the lead despite a lack of results having been officially made public.
Trump took exception to questions about abortion, telling one reporter:
"Stop talking about it."
An as yet unidentified reporter asked whether Trump will tell his supporters not to engage in political violence if he and running mate Ohio Senator J.D. Vance lose to Democratic candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Trump responded:
"I don't have to tell them that. I don't have to tell, I don't have to tell them that, that there'll be no violence. Of course there'll be no violence."
The GOP presidential candidate seemingly forgot the violent insurrection carried out by his supporters on January 6, 2021 after he lost both the popular and electoral vote to President Joe Biden in 2020.
That riot at the United States Capitol—incited by a rally Trump headlined—left at least five people dead, injured over 150 members of law enforcement, and caused over $1 million in damages.
Yet Trump quipped:
"My supporters are not violent people."
"I don't have to tell them that and they—I certainly don't want any violence, but I certainly don't have to tell—these are great people."
Trump then tried to turn the question back on the reporter, saying:
"These are people that believe in no violence, unlike your question."
Sounding like a child's defense tactic of "I know you are, but what am I," Trump added:
"You believe in violence."
You can see the moment that quickly spread across social media here:
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Trump’s fastastical claim that his supporters are nonviolent has, of course, been challenged by more recent acts of violence.
In October, a man repeatedly shot up a Harris campaign office in Arizona until he was arrested. In Texas and Florida, MAGA minions had to be arrested—including one armed with a machete—after harassing and menacing poll workers and Democratic voters during canvassing and early voting.
Today, several Fulton County, Georgia, polling locations were forced to pause voting after receiving "non-credible" bomb threats allegedly linked to Russian influence operations that support Trump. And several states have activated their National Guard in preparation for MAGA minions' response to another Trump loss.
People were prepared with receipts to counter Trump's false narrative.
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Polls opened this morning across the United States.
Once they close, counting votes will likely take several days to conclude in larger metropolitan areas—especially in states that don't allow absentee and early ballots from being processed until election day.
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