Trump: 'I am an election denier,' and half of the county is too

Former President Trump says he's an "election denier" and so are 50% of Americans.

"If you look at the polls, a lot of people think that that election was rigged and stolen," Trump said Thursday.

"I happen to be one of them. ... I'm an election denier, and so are, substantially, I would say substantially more than 50% of this country. And I think it's a much higher number than that. You get a lot of election deniers in this country, and they're not happy about what happened."

Trump made the comment in a media roundtable to discuss his upcoming book, "Letters to Trump," according to the Washington Examiner.

Trump also said that early 2024 presidential polls are giving him confidence in winning the party nomination next year, and he said MAGA anger over the outcome of the 2020 election may be feeding that.

"We're doing great in the polls," the former president said. "We've just got one from New Hampshire where we're like 40-something points up on anybody. Overall, we're way, way up. And a lot of it has taken place over the last two or three weeks." 

He was referring to an Emerson College poll that showed him leading his likely closest GOP primary challenger Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis 58%-17%.

DeSantis has not entered the race but as of now appears to be Trump's top rival for the Republican nomination.