A few weeks ago, Donald Trump Jr. sent out a tweet that suggested that if the media covered him, the public would be more likely to accept his father’s claims of voter fraud.
That tweet was followed by several more tweets suggesting that there’s widespread voter fraud in the United States and that Trump himself might be a fraudster.
“There’s a very real chance that I’m right, or that at least a significant portion of my supporters are, but they don’t know it yet,” Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, told NBC’s Today show on Wednesday.
“It’s a big, big risk that we take.”
That tweet, and others like it, were a reminder that Trump Jr.’s comments came amid a controversy over the weekend when he was asked about allegations that he tried to arrange a meeting with a Russian lawyer who claims to have damaging information on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
During the interview, Trump Jr.—who was also the subject of a New York Times story about his meeting with Veselnitskaya—told Today host Savannah Guthrie that he believed Veselnitkskaya was a “pro-Russian” figure who wanted to help Trump.
“And she wants to help get rid of Clinton,” he said.
“So, you know, I just want to get rid.”
When Guthrie pressed Trump Jr to elaborate on his statement that Veselnitzkskaya had not actually been in contact with him about Clinton, Trump Sr. said that Vesnitskaya’s claim that she was only trying to help his father was “pretty bogus.”
The president has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, saying that they have no basis.
“She has no credibility, that’s all,” Trump said during a White House news conference.
“You know, she’s not the president.
And we have to get to the bottom of it.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump’s campaign had not responded to an inquiry about whether the campaign planned to respond to the accusations, and he did not directly address the issue during his Thursday press conference.
Trump Jr,’s comments were not the first time the president has expressed doubts about voter fraud claims.
The president first floated the idea of rigging the election during a March 11, 2016, appearance on CNN, and then again during a February 23 press conference, when he said that there was “no way you could rig the election if you have millions of people that are not registered to vote.”
But in the past week, Trump has again expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the claims, saying on Thursday that he didn’t think the idea was “fair” and “silly.”
“It has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve seen it,” Trump told reporters.
“That is a lie.
There is no way you can rig the elections.”