August 12, 2026 - Transcript

***Host:*** *Trump targets El Sayed, suggests voter irregularities after Michigan primary. The president wrote on Truth Social, Wayne County, Detroit, in parentheses, so we all wink at a nod, in Michigan is one of the most corrupting voting areas in the United States, if not the world. It is strictly third world.* 

*Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast, and there are voters by law. We know the president is lying. That's not something that has happened.  There's no evidence that that has happened.* 

*And that's not my question, but my—you know, he used to focus on Georgia a lot, for example. He has started to talk a lot more about Michigan.* 

*In his speech a few weeks ago in front of, you know, his Cabinet officials in the world talking about irregularities that aren't irregular, he brought up Michigan. He's doing that now. I'm curious how you—as you're moving forward in your campaigning, you will still continue to do your current job as secretary of state.* 

*Like, what are the specific things you guys are doing to make sure that no matter what Trump does, you are prepared?* 

>*Jocelyn Benson: Well, first, we recognize the path to the presidency runs through Michigan. That was the case in 2020 and why we were in the spotlight then and why we're in the spotlight now. And particularly cities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, others that have been under that scrutiny are ones where you see high turnout that oftentimes influence the outcome of the statewide vote.* 

>*So no surprise that in his effort to interfere with elections and make voters feel that they don't have the power, as they do, to hold our elected officials accountable.* 

>*No surprise that Trump continues to lie about the security and safety of our elections, which, by the way, are ranked number two in the nation for safety and security. So we welcome the scrutiny, because we know it will only show how strong and secure our elections are.* 

>***But we also tell voters, and voters at this point are very aware of how—not just how secure our elections are, but how important their vote is, how all this noise, all of these challenges, all of these lies, all of these seeds of doubt that the president and others are planning, it's designed to cause us to lose faith in our power as voters to elect our leaders.*** 

>*And our job is to remind citizens that they do have that power and that when they vote, their vote will count, their voice will be heard, our election results will reflect their will, and I'll stand in the way of anyone who tries to disrupt that or overturn that.*

'No surprise Trump continues to lie': Michigan Secretary of State and Democratic Governor Candidate Jocelyn Benson on Trump's Election Claims | MSNOW