Trump clings to false election claims at Arizona rally

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday sought to lend credence to the partisan audit of presidential ballots cast in Arizona, holding his first rally there since the 2020 election.

Speaking in Phoenix at a Turning Point USA gathering, Trump hailed what he called Arizona Senate Republicans' “full forensic audit” of results in Maricopa County, while continuing to promulgate baseless conspiracy theories about the election he lost to Joe Biden.

“I predict when the votes come in … I think they’re going to be so horrible. They will be, in my opinion, the results will be so outrageous,” he said, promising to continue the fight in further politically driven audits across the country.

“This is only the beginning of the irregularities,” he insisted, reeling off a litany of polling grievances, none of which his team of lawyers was able to substantiate in court after the election. “We’re not talking about Arizona any more. We’re talking about the United States of America.”

The Republican-controlled Maricopa County government has strongly opposed the review conducted by a company called Cyber Ninjas, whose founder has backed Trump’s claims of a stolen election.