Political speech, timestamped and in context

Jamie Raskin: “We had elections in the middle of the Civil War. We had elections in the middle of World War II.”

Featuring: Jamie Raskin, Democratic | U.S. House Maryland, District 8

Jamie Raskin says election will be safe 'if the federal government stays out of it': Full interview

Published November 1, 2026

The president's got nothing to do with it, so he should go off to Mar a Lago and let us have a democratic election. You know, he was talking about suspending elections, not having elections. We had elections in the middle of the Civil War. We had elections in the middle of World War II. Why should we not have elections just because Donald Trump is going to get his feelings hurt when there's a landslide against him in 2020. (05:07–05:11)

STATEMENT

Asserts that elections were held during the Civil War and World War II.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

See the main statements from Jamie Raskin in this video

“In 2024, Donald Trump tried to mount and incite a violent insurrection against the peaceful transfer of power in order to deny a presidential election.”
Asserts that Donald Trump attempted to incite an insurrection in 2024.05:24-05:35
“There are only Congress could decide, we're going to pass a law to allow the post office or the president to get involved in the administration of elections.”
Asserts that only Congress can pass a law allowing federal involvement in election administration.04:46-04:55
“First of all, those pardons apply only criminally and not civilly. Secondly, they don't apply to state prosecutions, only to federal.”
Asserts that presidential pardons apply only to federal criminal cases, not civil or state cases.06:37-06:46
“Democrats are going to score major breakthroughs in rural areas.”
Asserts that Democrats will achieve significant electoral success in rural areas.07:26-07:30
“Blake Gender Bean in New York's 21st district... He's now ahead in the polls.”
Asserts that Blake Gender Bean is leading in the polls in New York's 21st district.07:29-07:38
“The Republican margin today is three votes. We will at least triple that margin.”
Asserts that Democrats will increase their margin by at least three times the current Republican margin.07:59-08:06