President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’d accept a GOP midterm loss to Democrats “if the elections are honest.”

It’s an ad nauseam refrain that the president has leaned on to boost future claims of rigging if elections don’t go his way ― but no less chilling.

In an interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas, Trump railed against Democrats’ opposition to voter ID, accused several blue cities of voting corruption and in pot-calling-kettle-black bombast declared, “We can’t allow cheating in elections.” As he did earlier this week, the president again hinted he would impose federal controls if states can’t conduct elections “honestly.”

Trump was indicted for allegedly scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss by falsely casting it as a stolen victory. That led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by a Trump-supporting mob. The case was, for the most part, dismissed after Trump won a second term.

“Will you trust the results of the midterms if Republicans lose control of Congress?” Llamas asked.

“I will if the elections are honest,” Trump replied.

In tempting the irony gods, the president added, “I’m the last one that wants to complain.”

Fast-forward to 28:30 for the question many of us perhaps knew the answer to already: