Trump repeated without evidence his long-running claim that U.S. elections are beset by widespread fraud.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune broke with the president after Trump called for the GOP to take over elections and nationalize the voting process ahead of midterms.

Trump said Monday that Republicans "ought to nationalize the voting," but Thune said the current system of states' running elections has "worked pretty well."

President Trump says Republicans should take over elections in some places to fight corruption for which there is little if any evidence.

Growing violence and harassment have driven half of the top election officials in nearly a dozen states to quit their jobs since Donald Trump refused to acknowledge his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020. Around 50 percent of high-ranking public officials have left election administration posts in 11 states since November 2020,