Actor and director Rob Reiner appeared on MSNBC’s “Velshi” this past weekend, where he made a series of claims regarding former President Donald Trump and the 2026 midterm elections. Reiner stated that the United States is at risk of becoming a “full-on autocracy” within a year, asserting that democracy could be lost if action is not taken.
“Make no mistake; we have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us,” Reiner said during the broadcast. He further argued that Trump is aware he would lose in a free and fair election: “And we’re looking at the election in 2026, and Donald Trump knows that in a free and fair election, he will lose. He will lose the House, the House will flip and will become in Democratic hands. There will be committee chairs who will be able to hold meetings, and this is the last thing he wants.”
Reiner went on to suggest that military presence could play a role at polling places during the upcoming elections. “Don’t be surprised when polling booths are surrounded by American military in the guise of making sure that the elections are fair and that nobody is tampering with anything,” he said.
He also described possible scenarios involving unrest: “And when you see violence breaking out, which there’ll be protests, there’ll be inciting violence, there’ll be some violence, and they’ll keep that. Then you’ll see the commandeering of voting machines, ballot boxes to make sure that that election is secure. Well, what that means is that he will then commandeer the election.”
The comments were made during an interview with host Ali Velshi on MSNBC.
