07/16/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/16/2026 11:26
Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor, ahead of President Trump's address to the nation, to denounce this administration's attempts to steal and undermine the 2026 elections by peddling old election conspiracies and lies. Leader Schumer also warned Trump that these efforts will fail, emphasizing that Senate Democrats are prepared to do everything in their power to stop this administration from subverting our democracy. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Donald Trump's election speech tonight is not about the election Trump lost six years ago. It is a threat against the election he is afraid to lose this November.
Trump may control the microphone tonight, but he will not control the verdict in November. The voters will have the last word-and Senate Democrats will rebut Trump's lies every day.
We will fight like hell to make sure Trump can't silence voters.
Trump's primetime speech tonight isn't simply about relitigating his overwhelming defeat in the 2020 election; it's about undermining the 2026 election before a single vote has been cast.
Trump won't expose anything of substance about 2020 - he'll just echo the same stale, baseless, pathetic lies he's repeated for six years.
Donald, you've been trying this schtick for six years. Only your little coterie of sycophants still believes these lies - no one else.
You can say it tonight, you can say it tomorrow night, you can say it every night till the election - no one believes you. The election was not stolen.
Trump keeps chasing his tail, going round and round and round in circles so many times he's left a rut in the ground. Every time he tells a lie, he digs himself deeper into the hole.
Trump's fixation on these conspiracy theories reeks of desperation.
Trump knows he can't defend Republicans' disastrous record, his disastrous record as well, so he's trying to discredit the voters who will judge it in November.
Hey Donald, the reason your numbers are so low is because you're obsessed with BS like this instead of what Americans actually care about.
The American people are fed up with Donald Trump. Americans are fed up with the chaos in their streets, fed up with the corruption in their government, fed up with sky-high costs in every part of their lives because of this administration's policies.
Voters are sick of forking over their tax dollars to line Trump's pockets and to fuel his failed war in Iran.
Trump has given up on winning over hearts and minds. Now he's focused on rigging rules and purging voter rolls.
Instead of changing course on their deeply unpopular agenda, Trump and the GOP have launched a coordinated, multi-front campaign to subvert the 2026 election.
But don't worry America: it will fail.
Trump has called for Republicans to, "take over voting in 15 states in the country." That's what he said. Trump said, "we want to take over. We should take over the voting…Republicans ought to nationalize the voting." It's in his own words.
Trump has issued unlawful executive orders to try to kill vote by mail.
This administration is packed to the rafters with election deniers - including key election oversight positions.
MAGA loyalists like Todd Blanche and Kash Patel have used DOJ and FBI to torment election officials and foment lies with politically motivated "investigations" designed to sow doubt and instill fear.
Trump's Republican allies in Congress keep pushing the SAVE Act - the most devious voter suppression legislation Trump has ever dreamed up.
Donald: when it comes to the SAVE Act, the courts have rejected it, Congress has rejected it, even members of your own party have rejected it - give it up. The SAVE Act isn't going anywhere.
There's no way we're letting this administration feed Americans' personal data into an algorithm Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Russell Vought created and let it pick who gets to vote.
Donald Trump made life harder and more expensive for the American people, and now he wants to make sure the American people can't hold him accountable at the ballot box. That's what Trump's speech is about tonight.
But in America, voters choose their leaders - leaders do not choose their voters.
And Senate Democrats are going to fight like hell to make sure our elections belong to the voters - not to Donald Trump.
The country does not belong to Donald Trump. The ballot does not belong to Donald Trump. The verdict does not belong to Donald Trump.
It belongs to the American people-and this November, they will deliver it.
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