Trump tells rally crowd 'out in the open' he’ll try to overturn election if he loses

During an in-depth interview with TIME earlier this year, former President Donald Trump warned that he just might attempt to overturn another presidential election if he doesn't win.

"If we don’t win, you know, it depends," the MAGA leader said. "It always depends on the fairness of the election."

Jake Traylor, who's covering the 2024 presidential election for NBC News wrote via X that NBC correspondent Vaughn Hilliard reported Wednesday that Trump presented a similar warning to a North Carolina crowd this week.

READ MORE: These 4 Republican lawmakers condemned the January 6 insurrection — but now endorse Trump

He said: "Our primary focus is not to get out the vote, it is to make sure they don't cheat. Because we have all the votes we'll need."

Legal analyst Joyce Vance replied: "Trump is not being subtle. He's never subtle. He's telling us out in the open that if he loses the election, he'll say it was fraud. He'll try to take power anyhow like in 2020. We must turnout in numbers that are so overwhelming that his claims will be ridiculous."

However, NBC News reporter Matt Dixon noted that some Republican leaders disagree with Trump's plan.

Dixon shared a screenshot from his and his NBC colleague Jonathan Allen's report last week, in which a longtime Republican operative said:

Why is the RNC building out hundreds of thousands of people for an 'election integrity project' instead of hundreds of thousands of precinct captains and GOTV [get out the vote] people focused on actually convincing and turning out voters?' said one veteran GOP operative who questioned the strategy. 'It’s because it’s much easier to yell 'rigged' when he inevitably loses another f---ing winnable race because he has no idea how to make a case for his own vision.'

READ MORE: Trump official sentenced to 70 months in prison for participating in January 6 insurrection