Following Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union speech, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey accused the President of laying the groundwork for what she believes is a possible “midterm power grab”.
Appearing on The Daily Beast Podcast, the Democratic governor warned, “I don’t think we should underestimate the lengths that the president and the administration will go to come November,”
She believes Trump is trying to create doubt about the integrity of upcoming elections. So, according to her, the President’s repeated claims of widespread voter fraud could be his Trump card to take extreme action before the 2026 midterm elections.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump predicts a HISTORIC, strong Republican midterm election in 2026
“We’re gonna have the greatest midterm that you’ve ever seen.” pic.twitter.com/oevV0Dy2F1
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2025
During his historic 108-minute speech, Donald Trump claimed that “cheating is rampant” in U.S. elections. While making this claim without verified evidence to support it, the President then accused the Democrats of rigging outcomes.
“They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat,” he shouted. However, Maura Healey strongly pushed back on those statements.
Now that Trump’s approval rating has sunk to a five-year low, as per a Washington Post–ABC News poll, Healey highlighted that the President is thus getting desperate, while worrying about potential GOP losses in the 2026 midterms.
Therefore, Healey believes that as part of his desperate measures, Trump could deploy federal forces near polling places or even increase the presence of immigration authorities to scare voters.
“He pushes, pushes, pushes… all to sort of sow these seeds to provide some justification for him to exercise emergency powers, put troops on the streets, to scare people away,” Healey shared.
She further added, “I think that what we have to anticipate is not only will we see ICE, we’ll see every federal agency set out around ballot polling places to scare people away,”
The Massachusetts Governor isn’t entirely wrong, as Donald Trump has indeed called for shifting control of elections from states to the federal government. The commander-in-chief has also begun working to erode trust in elections claiming they’re rigged.
Further, during his Tuesday speech at the State of the Union, the President urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. According to that bill, U.S. citizens would require a photo ID to vote, proof of citizenship to register, thus allowing the Department of Homeland Security to access state voter rolls.
Trump knows that elections must be secured in order to save the Republic, and so it will happen, one way or the other.
The 2026 midterms will be secure, and the Dems are going to be exposed for being a party propped up by voter fraud and Orwellian manipulation of perception. pic.twitter.com/6aNCXsjV4e
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) February 19, 2026
However, Democrats have argued that such rules could make it harder for many Americans to vote. Even Heather Honey, a top official in the Department of Homeland Security, has promised election officials via Politico, that there won’t be an ICE presence at polling places.
Meanwhile, despite assurances from political leaders, Maura Healey also highlighted Trump’s past actions, where he sent National Guard troops and Marines into U.S. cities, despite objections from local leaders. According to her, these moves show that he is willing to take bold federal action.
“I think it’s important that we talk about what is actually being attempted right now by the Trump administration and that we have in place what we need to have in place to protect people’s rights,” Healey concluded.
Since Donald Trump has continued to question the results of the 2020 election, despite a lack of evidence surrounding his claims of widespread fraud, Healey stressed that it is important for Americans to stay alert.
