'Absurd.' Some Kentucky congressmen unconvinced by Trump's new election fraud claims

Hannah Pinski, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jul 20, 2026

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Some of Kentucky’s federal delegation are criticizing President Donald Trump’s speech that doubled down on raising doubts about election integrity in the United States.

In a prime time address Thursday night, Trump announced he has declassified documents that reveal issues in America’s election system in the 2020 and 2018 elections, including allegedly interference by China and election fraud. He ordered the Department of Justice to prosecute those who are believed to be involved, according to reporting from ABC News.

But Trump did not provide specific evidence that the election outcome or votes were altered in the 2020 election, despite his consistent claims that the election was “stolen.”

He said he would immediately declassify the documents that he said reveals China “compromising” election data during the 2020 election and attempts to downplay China’s efforts.

Specifically, Trump said 220 million U.S. voter files were stolen by the People’s Republic of China and the intelligence was covered up by state actors in the U.S. government, according to reporting from BBC.

Trump’s attacks on election integrity aren’t new. He refused to accept his loss in the 2020 election, which led to a mob of his supporters violently attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 during his final days in office.

There is no credible evidence of meaningful tampering with the 2020 vote, according to reporting from Reuters, where analysts, academics and security experts told Reuters the outlet that the election was “one of the most transparent, audited and heavily litigated in recent history.”

Two members of Kentucky’s federal delegation also aren’t convinced by Trump’s claims.

Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents the 3rd Congressional District, said in a post on X that “Trump lost the 2020 election, and 6 years later he still can’t let it go.”

“Don’t mistake his delusions for facts,” Kentucky’s lone Democratic congressman said. “Undermining trust in our elections is directly out of the authoritarian playbook.”

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who represents the 4th Congressional District, called Trump’s claim “absurd.”

“Every piece of voter data Trump mentions here, as well as which elections each voter voted in, is readily available in Kentucky for a small fee,” Massie said.

Republican Reps. James Comer and Andy Barr did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.