President Donald Trump refused to rule out sending ICE officers or the National Guard to polls in the midterm elections, in an alarming assertion, as Republicans strive to cling to control of Congress.

The president was requested whether or not he would rule out sending law enforcement to polling locations, a transfer Democrats have predicted and dubbed an intimidation tactic, as he left the White House on Monday. Though he failed to present a definitive reply, the president said he would go above and past to guarantee there was no election fraud.

“You know what? I’ll do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections,” Trump said. “We have to have honest elections.”

When pressed again on whether or not sending federal officers to the polls was an option in November, Trump walked away, opting to reply another reporter’s query.

Trump’s feedback come days after the Supreme Court hollowed out a landmark Civil Rights-era law that has elevated minority illustration in Congress and elsewhere, putting down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana and opening the door for more redistricting across the nation that may help Republicans keep control of the House.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservative majority discovered that the Louisiana district represented by Democrat Cleo Fields relied too closely on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had described the sixth Congressional District as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to hyperlink elements of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge.

“That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the six conservatives.

The impact of the ruling could also be felt more strongly in 2028 because most submitting deadlines for this 12 months’s congressional races have handed. Louisiana, though, might have to change its redistricting plan to comply with the choice.

The now-struck-down invoice was signed 60 years in the past by President Lyndon Johnson as a main method to problem racially discriminatory election practices. At the time, he called it a “triumph for freedom as huge as any victory on any battlefield.”

In latest months, the Trump administration has also sought to go the Safeguard American Voters Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, which might require voters to present proof of U.S. citizenship before casting a poll and mandate a legitimate photograph identification.

Around 21 million Americans are believed to lack legitimate paperwork proving their U.S. citizenship, and 2.6 million lack any type of government-issued photograph ID. Hence, detractors of the act say the transfer would immediately disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters.

Trump has joked about election interference

In latest months, the president has joked about interfering with elections, often claiming that Republicans are at a drawback because he’s in workplace.

During a January interview with GWN, the president complained about the midterm elections, claiming that Republicans are already at a drawback.

“It’s some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms,” Trump said during an interview with GWN this month. He went on to say that during his first 12 months in workplace, he had achieved so a lot that “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”

Then, at an look in Des Moines, Iowa, he told supporters that he ought to run for a third time period, despite the Constitution strictly prohibiting it.

“I think we have the best poll numbers we’ve ever had,” Trump said to a small crowd of locals at the Machine Shed Restaurant close to Des Moines. “Think of it, if I were to run again, if I run again, would anyone be happy? So we have the best poll numbers we’ve ever had.”

Democrats brace for potential election interference

Trump’s troubling remarks have emerged as Democrats categorical critical worries that he’ll attempt to meddle in the elections to benefit his social gathering.

“Trump will do whatever it takes, and he has no honor and no credibility and no respect for law,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a January interview. “But, we are prepared for it, and we believe we will succeed.”

“We already have groups of both senators and attorneys wanting at every method that Trump may strive to screw issues up, and we’re combating against it,” Schumer added. “We already have a group to make sure that they rely the votes pretty.”

In a similar vein, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin cautioned in December that deploying National Guard troops mainly to Democratic-controlled cities might signal early voter suppression tactics.

“What he’s going to do is ship those troops there, and keep them there all the best way through the next election, because guess what?” Martin said. “If people are afraid of leaving their home, they’re in all probability not going to depart their home to go vote on Election Day. That’s how he stays in energy.”