NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump He has spent months preparing to contest the results of the 2024 election if he loses, just as he did four years ago.

At rally after rally, he urges his supporters to win a victory “too big to cheat” and tells them the only way he can lose is if the Democrats cheat. He has repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept the results no matter what. As a result, he claimed that fraud was already underway, citing debunked claims or outrageous theories that had no basis in fact.

“The only thing that can stop us is cheating. That’s the only thing that can stop us,” he said at an event in Arizona late Thursday night.

Trump in 2020 Early victory declared From the White House. HE launched a legal and political effort to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden. storming of the capitol By its supporters on January 6, 2021.

Democrats fear he could do the same thing before the race is called this year. Instead of answering a question about Democratic concerns in Dearborn, Mich., on Friday, he turned to attacking Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump has made election lies central to his 2024 campaign and has issued impassioned warnings about fraud. promises revenge Against people he thought were standing in his way.

This year, he is backed by a sophisticated “election integrity” operation created by his campaign and the Republican National Committee, which has already filed more than 130 lawsuits and enlisted more than 230,000 volunteers who have been trained to serve as poll watchers and poll workers across the country. Election Day country.

Here’s a look at Trump’s strategy to sow doubt in this year’s election and the facts behind each claim.

CLAIM: Trump claimed without evidenceHe said Democrats are allowing millions of immigrants to enter the country illegally so they can register to vote. One Interview with Newsmax in SeptemberTrump claimed such efforts were already underway.

“They are working overtime trying to illegally sign people to vote in elections,” he claimed. “They are working overtime to sign and register people; Most of the people you just saw are crossing the border. “That’s probably their main thought, because otherwise why would they want to destroy our country?”

THE FACTS: It takes years for newcomers to become citizens, and only citizens can legally vote in federal elections. Isolated cases of non-citizens caught trying to vote A University of Michigan student from China People arrested for allegedly voting illegally do not reflect a larger conspiracy.

Research shows non-citizens registering and voting illegally is extremely rare and it is often done by mistake.

CLAIM: Trump portrayed Democrats’ efforts to secure the votes of Americans living abroad as another opportunity for fraud. He claims they were “preparing to CHEAT!” and “we want to dilute the REAL votes of our beautiful military and their families.”

THE FACTS: The former president personally campaigned for the votes of Americans abroad. promising to end So-called “double taxation” for individuals who frequently pay taxes in their country of residence and to the U.S. government.

CLAIM: Trump began suggesting that Harris might have access to some sort of secret inside information regarding the outcome of a race that has not yet been decided.

Since taking a day off to do interviews with Telemundo and NBC, the vice president has repeatedly suggested: “Maybe he knows something we don’t.”

Last weekend in Michigan, he suggested that if the race was truly as close as polls indicate, there’s no way Harris would be campaigning with Beyoncé, one of the world’s biggest stars.

“First, they cheat like hell. So maybe they know something we don’t know, right?” he said. “They might know something we don’t know, I don’t know. Why is he celebrating when you’re down there? Maybe – I’ve never thought about it – maybe he knows something we don’t. But we will not allow this.”

THE FACTS: There is no evidence to support a Democratic conspiracy. Indeed, Trump fueled fears of his own internal planning when he looked at House Speaker Mike Johnson at a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden and mentioned a “little secret” between them.

Before Johnson became a speaker, took the lead He repeated some of his wilder conspiracy theories as he drafted a widely panned briefing to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss and cover up his loss.

When asked about Trump’s reference to the “little secret,” Johnson issued a statement that included: “A secret, by definition, should not be shared, and I have no intention of sharing it.” (He later told viewers this was related to “one of our get-out-the-vote tactics,” according to The Hill. Trump’s campaign released a statement saying it was “holding numerous tele-rallies” to help support Republican congressional candidates.)

CLAIM: In recent days, Trump has turned his anger towards Pennsylvania, a state that both campaigns see as critical and where he claims fraud is already going on.

earlier this weekHe alleged that York County, Pennsylvania, “received THOUSANDS of potentially FRAUDULENT Voter Registration Forms and Mail Ballot Applications from a third-party group.” and Forms, all written by the same person. Really bad ‘stuff’.”

During a campaign event in Allentown on Tuesday, the former president said: “They’ve already started cheating in Lancaster. They cheated. We caught them by 2,600 votes. No, we caught them cold. 2,600 votes. Think about this, think about that. And every vote was written by the same person.”

THE FACTS: County District Attorney Heather Adams, an elected Republican in Lancaster, said election workers raised two sets of concerns. voter registration applications due to what he describes as numerous similarities. Authorities are currently examining nearly 2,500 forms in total.

To be clear, Lancaster is reviewing voter registration applications, not “votes.” Lancaster officials said some of the forms contained fake names, suspicious handwriting, suspicious signatures, incorrect addresses or other problematic details, but did not say they were all written by the same person.

York County Chief Clerk Greg Monskie confirmed this week that his county was reviewing the suspicious forms. County Commissioner Julie Wheeler released a statement saying voter registration forms and mail ballot applications were among “large deliveries containing thousands of election-related materials” the county elections office received from a third-party organization.

Officials in the state say the discovery and review of applications, not votes, is proof that the system is working as it should.

CLAIM: Trump threatened serious consequences for those who engaged in what he described as “unconscionable conduct.”

In a social media post that incorrectly cited “rampant Cheating and Fraud by Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election,” he warned: “WHEN I WIN, CHEATERS will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long prison sentences.”

The posts threaten that “those who engage in unscrupulous behavior,” including election officials, lawyers and donors, “will be searched for, caught and, unfortunately, prosecuted at levels never seen before in our country.”

THE FACTS: Judges, election officials and even Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, have it all. Approved He said there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

If re-elected, Trump has vowed to go after rivals he sees as “enemies from within,” including saying he would appoint a special prosecutor to target Biden. This is much more than a theoretical threat, given that Trump has repeatedly pushed for investigations of perceived political enemies during his time as president.

While the Justice Department has controls in place to prevent political influence, Trump can appoint leaders to facilitate prosecutions at his behest.

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Associated Press writers Christine Fernando in Chicago, Adriana Gomez Licon in Dearborn, Michigan, and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.