City officials shoot down Donald Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in Philadelphia

After former President Donald Trump complained of “massive CHEATING” on his Truth Social platform, Philly D.A. Larry Krasner asked him to provide evidence. Trump has yet to do so.

On Monday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Kranser issued a stern warning to anyone thinking about trying to disrupt Philadelphia’s elections, warning them “F around and find out.

Tuesday, he took a slightly less Philly tone in responding to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s baseless (but expected) claims of voter fraud in Philadelphia.

Krasner issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon saying that there is zero evidence to support Trump’s claim of election fraud in Philadelphia.

“The only talk about massive cheating has come from one of the candidates, Donald J. Trump,” Krasner said. “There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation. We have invited complaints and allegations of improprieties all day. If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now. Right now. We are not holding our breath.” 

Krasner’s statement was in response to Trump’s Truth Social post in which he claimed “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”

Trump’s spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press about what he meant.

CNN reported that the Philadelphia Police Department did not know of any issues with voting that required law enforcement assistance.

Shortly after Krasner challenged Trump to provide evidence, City Commissioner Seth Bluestein also pushed back against Trump’s disinformation campaign, posting to X, “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation. Voting in Philadelphia has been safe and secure. We have been in regular contact with the RNC. We have been responsive to every report of irregularities at the polls to ensure Philadelphians can vote safely and securely.”

Bluestein oversees Philadelphia’s elections, occupying the position held by Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt during the 2020 election.

Schmidt was singled out by Trump on Twitter in 2020 and later testified before the Jan. 6 committee that his family had received death threats in the wake of Trump’s online harassment.

“What was once a fairly obscure administrative job is now one where lunatics are threatening to murder your children,” said Schmidt before the committee.

A senior official at the federal cybersecurity agency also said no nationwide security problems are threatening the integrity of the elections, and pushed back on Trump’s claims of fraud.

Cait Conley, a senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters that though officials have responded to bomb threats, disinformation and other problems, there are no major incidents with a national-level impact.

Asked about claims of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania being advanced by Trump and some of his supporters, Conley said federal officials had been in close contact with their state and local counterparts across the country and “we see no data or reporting to support these claims.”