US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]

Donald Trump lashed out Friday over a candidate named Dan J. Sullivan — accused of being recruited by the Democratic Party to siphon votes from Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska's Senate race — calling the man "Fake Dan Sullivan."

In a radio interview that day, Trump told the host to check the Alaska ballot, saying, "You have to have an IQ of 190 to understand the ballot," according to Yonhap.

Trump has been on the offensive against the Democratic Party and the candidate since The New York Times reported Wednesday that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had recruited a retired teacher named Dan J. Sullivan — a move the paper said was designed to split votes away from the incumbent Republican senator seeking reelection.

Trump also argued that adding the word "Incumbent" after the sitting Republican senator's name on the ballot — intended to distinguish the two Dan Sullivans — still confuses voters.

"Most people in Alaska don't know what that means. Same with other states," Trump said in the interview. "They don't know what 'incumbent' means." CNN noted that Trump's remarks suggested voters there were not smart enough to understand the ballot.

Trump also leveled another allegation at Dan J. Sullivan, saying the candidate "has never run for office, has never voted," and adding that Sullivan had sought to change his middle initial from J to S but a court rejected the request.

Alaska governor orders probe

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into whether the Democratic Party played a role in fielding a same-name candidate against the Republican incumbent in the state's Senate race.

Dunleavy said Thursday on X that he was directing the Department of Public Safety to investigate whether "this scheme" violated Alaska state law and whether criminal charges or civil action were warranted. "Future actions will be determined by the evidence," he said, according to Yonhap.

"Deliberately deceiving voters into casting their ballot for the wrong person undermines the integrity of our elections," Dunleavy said. "Any individual or organization found to have broken the law must be held accountable."

The already razor-thin Alaska Senate race now appears to be drawing in law enforcement authorities.

Even before The New York Times report, Trump had directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the election results if the incumbent Sullivan lost by a narrow margin, citing the confusion caused by the same-name candidate.

The Democratic Party pushed back, saying similar tactics had been used frequently before and that Republicans had employed comparable methods not only in Alaska but in multiple other states as well.


yul@heraldcorp.com