Just after swearing the oath of office on Monday, President Trump accused California of voter fraud, saying he believes he would have won the state in November if its Democratic leaders had not cheated.

Trump cited his support among Latinos as the basis for this belief, but otherwise offered no evidence for the claim.

Speaking to supporters in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol after his inaugural address in the Rotunda, Trump said he “did great” in California but there was malfeasance in the state sending out “like 38 million ballots and nobody knows where the hell they’re sending them.”

“You know, they passed a law in California that if you work in an election bureau and if you so much as ask for a voter ID, if you say, ‘Sir, ma’am, could I please look at your voter ID?’ they have the right to put you in jail. You’re a criminal. Can you believe it?” Trump said.

He added: “There’s only one reason that happens: they want to cheat.”

Trump has previously, and baselessly, accused California of voter fraud — including following his victorious 2016 presidential campaign.

Gov. Gavin Newsom this fall signed a law that bans local governments from requiring people to show identification when voting. Existing state law already said that, in most cases, California voters did not need to show identification before voting.

With House Speaker Mike Johnson standing beside him, nodding, Trump said that “when we get things cleaned up and we get back to a little bit of normalcy, I’m going to ask the speaker to really get involved because I think we would have won the state of California.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris won California with 58.5% of the vote. Trump won 38.3% of ballots cast.

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