President Donald Trump revived false claims of election fraud Wednesday, accusing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs of helping rig the state’s 2022 gubernatorial election as he sought to boost Republican gubernatorial nominee Andy Biggs, a longtime ally who helped challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump revisited voting machine problems in Maricopa County during the 2022 gubernatorial election at a rally in Bullhead City, a Republican stronghold in Mohave County. He falsely suggested the malfunctions were deliberately targeted at Republican voters and cost then-GOP nominee Kari Lake the race against Hobbs.

“She won that election…The damn machines were broken in Republican areas. They were broken purposely, and you couldn’t vote and Katie Hobbs had a lot to do with it,” Trump told supporters. “What a rigged election that was and it’s a shame.”

But the claims are unfounded. While some ballot printers experienced technical problems in Arizona on Election Day in 2022, investigations and court rulings found no evidence that the malfunctions were intentionally orchestrated to suppress Republican votes or that they changed the election’s outcome.

Lake repeatedly challenged her loss to Hobbs, but her legal efforts failed to overturn the results.

Trump also praised Lake, without naming her, saying she “won that election” and “probably won the other one too,” an apparent reference to her unsuccessful 2024 Senate bid.

The remarks put election denialism back in the spotlight less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, as Biggs seeks to unseat Hobbs in one of the country’s most closely watched gubernatorial contests.

The president’s appearance also puts renewed attention on Biggs’ role in Trump’s unsuccessful effort to overturn his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden. Biggs, the former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, voted against certifying electoral votes from Arizona and other battleground states following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

He also supported a lawsuit seeking to invalidate election results in several states Biden won. Despite those efforts, Biggs has more recently resisted characterizations of himself as an election denier.

Arizona has become a focal point in the Republican Party’s continued embrace of candidates who questioned Trump’s 2020 defeat. The party’s nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, Alexander Kolodin and Warren Petersen, respectively, also challenged the election results.

The rally comes one day after former President Barack Obama endorsed Hobbs in her reelection bid, adding another high-profile Democrat to her list of supporters in this increasingly competitive race.

Hobbs holds an 8-point lead, 49% to 40.8%, over Biggs, according to the latest polling average from MS NOW’s data partner FiftyPlusOne.

Trump’s visit is part of an aggressive campaign blitz that has already taken him to Ohio and Alaska this week as Republicans fight to maintain control of Congress.

wArizona marks a notable departure from Trump’s recent campaign stops in traditionally Republican states. He narrowly lost the battleground state in 2020 before winning it four years later.

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