“There's BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California... Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. / It's a rigged election... Because they're cheating on the election. / We're like a third world country.”

Truth Social post, and NBC Meet the Press interview with Kristen Welker recorded in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

The pace of the count follows from California law, not from cheating. The Secretary of State's published process gives counties a 30-day canvass period, counts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days, and requires officials to contact voters whose signature is missing or does not match so their ballot can be counted. About 80 percent of California votes are cast by mail, the state has 23 million registered voters, and the Secretary of State called the delayed results normal. Asked in the interview what evidence he had, he said all he had to do was look.

One thing he said was true when he said it, and it is the claim's best defence. After his post, the first assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California said his office and the FBI were pursuing multiple election fraud investigations. He gave no specifics, and no charge or finding has been reported. An announced investigation is not cheating found.