A viral Instagram video claims that Donald Trump admitted in a speech to rigging the 2024 election. “Did Trump just say he and Elon Musk ‘rigged’ the election?” reads the post, which had more than 40,000 views as of January 23.
In the video, which originates from Trump’s inaugural weekend speech at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Trump explains to a crowd that he wouldn’t have the opportunity to be president during the 2026 World Cup or 2028 Olympics if the election hadn’t been rigged. “And, you know, it’s only because they rigged the election that I’ll be your president, representing you there,” Trump tells the crowd. “You know, I got both of them, I got the Olympics and I got the World Cup. And I said, you know, ‘it’s too bad one was in 2026 and the other was in 2028.’ I said, ‘I won’t be there, I won’t be your president,’ but then they rigged the election, and now we won, so I’m going to be your president for the Olympics and for the World Cup.”
The claim that Trump said “he and Elon Musk ‘rigged’ the election” is untrue. Trump—making his own false claim—is referring to the 2020 election as “rigged,” not the 2024 election.
Since being defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the election was rigged against him. In his speech at Capital One Arena, Trump was again referencing this 2020 stolen election claim. What he told the crowd was that if the election hadn’t been stolen in 2020, he would have just finished his second term in office, meaning he wouldn’t have been eligible to run for president in the 2024 election and wouldn’t be president during the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games.
Los Angeles was officially awarded the right to host the 2028 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee on September 13, 2017. Earlier in 2017, the U.S., alongside Mexico and Canada, also launched a joint bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the preeminent competition in men’s international soccer. This united bid was awarded hosting rights in June 2018, defeating Morocco in a vote by FIFA’s member nations. At the time, Trump praised both efforts, saying that the Olympic Games would “exemplify both the Olympic ideal and the American spirit,” and that the World Cup would be “really, very special.”
If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.
Please note that we at The Dispatch hold ourselves, our work, and our commenters to a higher standard than other places on the internet. We welcome comments that foster genuine debate or discussion—including comments critical of us or our work—but responses that include ad hominem attacks on fellow Dispatch members or are intended to stoke fear and anger may be moderated.
With your membership, you only have the ability to comment on The Morning Dispatch articles. Consider upgrading to join the conversation everywhere.