President Trump today, without any kind of evidence, claimed China is meddling in the 2018 midterm elections. Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election coming up in November against my administration,” Trump said at the United Nations Security Council meeting today. “They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade.” Chinese representatives deny this claim.

This isn’t the first time the Trump administration’s made such an unfounded statement about China. The President claimed in last month that China hacked Hillary Clinton’s emails, a claim the FBI disputed, and National Security Director Dan Coats also previously pointed a finger at China, among others: “We have seen signs of not just Russia, but from China, and capabilities potentially from Iran, and even North Korea.” National Security Advisor John Bolton also made similar remarks.

It’s clear that Trump and his cohorts believe  these preemptive remarks can explain away a potential GOP loss this November. He knows such a loss will not reflect poorly on him, but that it would imperil his whole presidency. Unfortunately for Trump, the GOP is all but conceding in some battlegrounds: The Hill reported today that The National Republican Congressional Committee has been pulling ad buys for struggling candidates, an indication they’re scrambling to save what seats they can.