Trump Supports 'Rigging' Elections In His Favor: Former DHS Official

A former official under Donald Trump's administration said this week that the former president isn't against "rigging" elections if it will benefit him.

"He is against rigged elections when they hurt him," Ken Cuccinelli, a former official with the Department of Homeland Security under Trump's administration, told Politico Playbook on Friday. "He doesn't appear to be against rigging elections to help him."

"They're looking to rig the system in their favor," Cuccinelli, who founded the Never Back Down PAC supporting Ron DeSantis in his 2024 bid for the presidency, added in his conversation with Politico Playbook.

Earlier this week, Trump was federally indicted in connection to the riots at the Capitol on January 6 and his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. On Thursday, Trump pled not guilty to the charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of and the attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.

Following his arraignment, Trump said it was a "sad day for America," adding that "it was also very sad driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay, and all of the broken buildings and walls, and the graffiti. This is not the place that I left. It's a very sad thing to see it."

Since the 2020 election, which resulted in a victory for President Joe Biden, Trump has continued to claim that the election was "rigged," and stolen from him.

"He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA...I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!" Trump wrote in a tweet in 2020.

In a TruthSocial post last month, Trump made another mention of the 2020 election being rigged saying, "We'll have fun on the stand with all of these people that say the Presidential Election wasn't Rigged and Stollen. THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY!!!" alluding to the federal indictment he received a few days later.

In May, Trump appeared on CNN for a Town Hall in New Hampshire and once again spoke about the 2020 election being rigged.

"When you look at what happened during that election, unless you're a very stupid person you see what happened," Trump said. "It was a rigged election and it was a shame that we had to go through it."

In March, Cuccinelli launched the Never Back Down PAC and urged DeSantis to run for president.

"America's future is Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis doesn't just talk, he acts. But most of all, he never backs down...Governor DeSantis, today, I'm asking you to run for president. You've had our back, now we will have yours," Cuccinelli said in a video announcing the creation of the PAC.

Newsweek reached out to the Never Back Down PAC via email for comment.

According to a 2024 Republican primary tracking poll, conducted by Morning Consult, Trump and DeSantis currently remain the top two candidates. The poll shows that Trump currently leads with 58 percent and DeSantis is second with 15 percent. The most recent tracking poll from Morning Consult was conducted from July 28 to July 30 and surveyed 3,716 potential voters in the Republican primary race.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.