Trump accuses Dems of trying to 'steal' California primaries from Republicans

President Donald Trump on Thursday accused California Democrats of attempting to "steal" the state's primary elections from Republican candidates amid a protracted ballot counting process.

California has an unusual jungle primary system in which the top two voter getters advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. The state has yet to complete its ballot counting from the Tuesday primaries.

"The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES," Trump posted on Truth Social. "Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS."

Republican Steve Hilton currently leads the overall gubernatorial ballot, though former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra placed a close second.

The Los Angeles gubernatorial contest, however, saw incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass place first, with Republican Spencer Pratt placing second. Pratt's advancement to the runoff, however, has not been confirmed and city council member Nithya Raman appears to be gaining ground.

Trump has long been critical of the mail-in ballot process, which featured heavily in his claims of election fraud in the 2020 contest.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.