Democratic strategist James Carville said in an interview this week that he’s "very" worried that President Donald Trump and his administration will cheat in the 2026 midterm elections.
During an appearance on "The Jim Acosta Show" on Tuesday, Carville told the former CNN anchor he thinks there’s a major risk of Trump tampering with votes in the 2026 midterm elections to make sure the Democratic Party doesn’t gain any ground to oppose his second-term agenda.
"In the short word, yes," Carville said in response to Acosta repeating a viewer asking whether they believe Trump will end up "tampering" with the midterm votes. "In the longer words, very."
Democratic strategist James Carville warned that he's "very" worried about President Trump stealing the 2026 midterm elections. (Getty Images)
Carville predicted that Trump is going to get worried about congressional Republicans' hold on power once he starts seeing the results of major elections over the next year or so.
"And I think what may happen, he’s going to see the writing on the wall in Virginia," Carville said, mentioning the upcoming 2025 governor’s election between Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, and former Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger.
"This is what I think is going to happen," he continued. "And [Trump’s] going to see retirements and people are going to start coming in."
Carville also predicted Trump would see these races and say, "‘We’re getting ready to lose. I gotta change and I gotta get some distance,’ and he’s going to see all that coming."
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During his Tuesday interview on "The Jim Acosta Show," Democratic strategist James Carville told viewers who are scared of Trump that they have "every reason to be." (Mark Von Holden/WireImage)
"I don’t put anything past him – nothing – to try to call the election off, to do anything he can. He can think of things like that, that – that, you know, we can’t because we’re not accustomed to thinking like that. We always assume there’s going to be an election. In your case, ‘How do I cover the election?’ In my case, ‘How do I affect the election?’" he said.
Carville mentioned that people often share these kinds of concerns, saying they're scared of what Trump might do.
"I say, you should be," Carville said. "You have every reason to be scared. Don’t kid yourself."
"This is scary s---," Acosta, a rabid Trump critic, responded. "And he’s already tried to steal one election before, so, I mean, what’s to say he’s not going to try to steal more?"
The WHite House fired back in a comment to Fox News Digital.
"President Trump has taken more action to restore the integrity of our elections on behalf of the American people than any president in modern history. According to the Democrats, voter fraud doesn’t exist – but clearly they are already searching for copouts preparing to lose big again in the midterms," spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.
Several of Carville's prior predictions about Trump didn't come to pass. Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the former Bill Clinton advisor declared in a New York Times column that former Vice President Kamala Harris would win the presidency.
In March, Carville said that Trump’s presidency had already collapsed just months into the second term.