Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein said on Sunday that President Donald Trump will call the midterm election "illegitimate" if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives.
"I mean, I talk to people in the White House or are in touch with the White House on Friday, who believe that if the congressional midterms are very close and the Democrats were to win by five or seven seats, that Trump is already talking about how to throw legal challenges into the courts, sow confusion, declare a victory actually, and say the election has been illegitimate," Bernstein told CNN's "Reliable Sources" anchor Brian Stelter. "That that is really under discussion in the White House. I was told that on Friday."
Bernstein's comments were sparked by a discussion on Trump's Saturday tweet about voter fraud.
"All levels of government and Law Enforcement are watching carefully for VOTER FRAUD, including during EARLY VOTING. Cheat at your own peril. Violators will be subject to maximum penalties, both civil and criminal!" Trump wrote in a tweet.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1053807130120200192
"We need to be doing stories about the reality of whether or not there is widespread voter fraud. Let's look at the underlying questions as reporters and present real reporting, in depth that examines the underlying issues," Bernstein said.
Stelter questioned if the president is engaging in a form of voter suppression.
"And there is not -- there is not widespread voter fraud. I think most Americans know that," Stelter said. "And all the reporting backs up that. And yet the president, by tweeting it, what's he doing? Engaging in a form of voter suppression?"
"It certainly would appear that that is part of it," Bernstein responded.
Liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman shared a similar view that Trump is using the issue of voter fraud to question the legitimacy of the midterm election.
"If Democrats don't at least take the House, God help us. But even if they do, we'll be facing a nightmarish political scene. Republicans will claim that the election was stolen, and deny the majority's legitimacy," Krugman tweeted on Sunday.
If Democrats don't at least take the House, God help us. But even if they do, we'll be facing a nightmarish political scene. Republicans will claim that the election was stolen, and deny the majority's legitimacy 1/ pic.twitter.com/M21pkFiIOw
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 21, 2018
Shortly after the 2016 election, Krugman wrote in the New York Times that Trump's victory is "tainted" and "illegitimate."