“Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest?” Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning. “How could the Polls be so wrong??? Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote. It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter! President DJT”

With that post, Trump went all in on a new Big Lie, this time about the 2026 midterms. None of this should come as a surprise. I warned about it on my podcast on Sunday.

But you wouldn’t have known it from watching “60 Minutes” that same night.

I spent the better part of an hour on my podcast walking viewers through Trump’s growing embrace of election denialism. The signs were obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention. Trump had been sharing conspiracy theories and making threats about elections in Alaska. The legacy media ignored them.

I timed the episode to end just before “60 Minutes” began. Trump was being interviewed by Ross Douthat, one of the program’s new conservative correspondents, and I wanted to see whether election denialism would come up.

It didn’t.

Douthat asked Trump about UFOs, death and religion. They chatted about forgiveness and about a potential successor to lead the MAGA movement. Yet, he did not ask a single question about Trump’s election denialism.

The only reference to Trump’s attacks on elections came in the segment’s introduction, and, ironically, it falsely credited Trump with having set election denialism aside:

“In the past, this president has met defeat with claims of fraud and the effort to overturn the 2020 election. But when we met with him in the White House on Friday for his first sit-down interview since the midterms, we found him in a surprisingly reflective mood, and seemingly accepting of defeat.”

Trump was less than 24 hours away from proving that claim wrong, but “60 Minutes” still found zero minutes to press him on election denialism. Instead, it vouched for him.

I was disappointed but not surprised.

Under its new ownership and its editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, CBS News has a track record of going easy on Trump. An interview conducted by Douthat, with Weiss in tow, was never going to be combative or challenge Trump on election denialism — the core of his movement’s ideology.

So how did I see what the legacy media missed?

To start with, I listened to what Trump was saying. I read what he was posting. I took him literally and seriously.

Just as important, I had seen this pattern before. Less than a week after the GOP’s stinging defeat, Trump’s messaging was slowly but surely shifting from “I lost” to “Republicans lost” to “maybe Republicans didn’t lose at all.”

Donald Trump was never going to let an election loss pass without a lie. From the birther conspiracy about Barack Obama to the 2020 Big Lie and his ongoing efforts to relitigate that loss, election denialism has become the one requirement for membership in the MAGA movement.

Most importantly, I have no reason to look away.

This is the ethos I have infused in Democracy Docket. It has no corporate overlords and no other businesses that depend on access to the White House or favors from government officials. It doesn’t need to stay in Trump’s good graces.

That independence, and our commitment to democracy, allow Democracy Docket to tell the truth about Trump’s attacks on elections while other pundits and commentators stay silent.

And this is only the beginning. Trump’s post took aim at voting machines and early votes. It’s worth watching where that leads.

Officials may face pressure to delay or refuse certification. Early and mail voting may come under new attacks. There may be a push to change how votes are cast and counted before 2028.

Democracy Docket will be tracking and exposing every step.

That’s why Democracy Docket’s reach and influence keep growing. Most recently, it has added regular live podcasts to its free offerings to serve those in our community who prefer to hear from me on video.

Doing this work takes resources, and its work is funded by readers like you. That’s why I’m asking you to upgrade to a premium membership.

For $10 a month or $120 a year, you’ll get my premium newsletters with analysis you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll also get members-only live events and access to our members-only community.

Most importantly, you’ll help keep Democracy Docket independent, so we can keep covering the stories the legacy media is ignoring.

The midterms may be over, but the fight to save democracy is only beginning. I’m proud to have you by my side.