'Fearmongering, false statements’: Todd Blanche hits back at armed poll monitor claims

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Todd Blanche rejected Democratic warnings that President Donald Trump could deploy armed federal agents to polling places during 2026 midterm elections, calling the claims false.

Blanche defended the Justice Department’s plan to deploy 1,000 or more election monitors, saying the program has been used by administrations since the 1960s.

He made the remarks Sunday, October 4, during an interview with Fox News while discussing the DOJ’s election-monitoring plans.

Blanche rejects claims of armed election agents

Blanche said the election monitors will not be armed federal agents and accused lawmakers of spreading fear about the program.

“I wish that the senators and the congressmen that are saying these fearmongering, false statements would just not do that. It’s not fair to the American people,” Blanche said.

He said the Justice Department has safeguarded elections since the 1960s and argued that the Trump administration is continuing the same practice.

“President Trump is doing the same thing that every single administration has done in our administration,” Blanche said.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced in August that the DOJ planned to deploy 1,000 election monitors for the 2026 midterm elections, a record number compared with the 200 to 800 monitors the department has typically sent in previous elections.

Blanche said lawmakers who oppose the monitors are reacting inaccurately. 

“What these senators should be saying is ‘thank God that we have a government that’s ready to show up,” he said. “We’re hoping to have 1,000 or more.” 

He said the monitors would perform the same role as those deployed in previous elections.

Democrats have warned about federal agents at polls

Blanche’s comments came in response to warnings from Democrats about the possibility of armed federal personnel being sent to polling locations.

Sen Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis, said in a June press release that Trump was weighing whether to send “armed federal agents to our schools, churches, fire stations, and other polling locations.”

Blanche specifically rejected the claim that the election monitors themselves would be armed federal agents, calling it “completely false.”

“They are not going to Republican states. They’re not going to Democrat states,” Blanche said, adding that the monitors would go “to every state to make sure that our elections are carried out legally, fairly, and appropriately.” 

President Trump’s earlier comments left deployment question open

The dispute comes after Trump made different comments about the possibility of federal personnel at polling places.

In May, Trump said he would do “anything necessary” to ensure fair elections, leaving open the possibility of sending federal agents to polling locations.

On Thursday, however, Trump said he had not thought about deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) in the November elections.

White House border czar Tom Homan also said last month that there were no plans to send ICE to polling sites.

Blanche also said Congress should be thanking the Trump administration for ensuring fair elections through the monitoring program.