Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested if the bellwether Virginia gubernatorial race comes down to a narrow margin of victory, the Democrats will try to "steal it."
In an interview on Sean Hannity's Fox News program Monday night, Gingrich raised the specter of election fraud.
"First of all, if it's really tight, they'll steal it, so you can't afford to have a really tight election," Gingrich said. "You have to win by a big enough margin that they can't steal it."
A clip was posted by Mediaite.
Tuesday's contest between former Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe and businessman and Republican Glenn Youngkin has been viewed as a barometer for the Democratic Party's popularity under President Joe Biden ahead of next year's midterm elections, The Hill noted.
Gingrich said a victory for Youngkin would amount to a political "earthquake," but if he loses narrowly it would be "an interesting tremor."
"This is the beginning of a tidal wave," he predicted.
Gingrich's comments follow a Monday statement from former President Donald Trump on his Save America PAC site.
"I am not a believer in the integrity of Virginia's elections, lots of bad things went on, and are going on," he wrote.
In another statement Monday, Trump dismissed that he and Youngkin are at odds.
"We get along very well together and strongly believe in many of the same policies," Trump wrote. "Especially when it comes to the important subject of education. The reason the Fake News and perverts are working overtime is to try and convince people that we do not like each other, and therefore, my great and unprecedented Make America Great Again base will not show up to vote."