On Aug. 14, 2022, a Twitter account titled "The Halfway Post" tweeted, "BREAKING: Donald Trump is telling all his supporters to boycott the midterm elections because of how the DOJ is treating him so unfairly."
However, this was not real news. The Halfway Post's own Twitter bio says the account publishes "satire" and "liberal comedy."
Trump did not tell his supporters to "boycott" the upcoming midterm elections "because of how the DOJ is treating him so unfairly." The mention of the Department of Justice, or "DOJ," referred to the agency's involvement with the FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida. The search was conducted with a warrant on Aug. 8.
Reputable news outlets including the Associated Press, Washington Post, and New York Times documented what agents sought in the search. The reporting spelled out what was believed to have been seized, including documents labeled "top secret," and also provided information about a previous search of Trump's estate earlier in the year.
The August 2022 tweet from The Halfway Post wasn't the first time the account published a "satirical" message that claimed Trump told his supporters to "boycott" the midterm elections, as we previously reported.
Separately, it's true that Trump did once put out a statement in October 2021 that said, "Republicans will not be voting in '22 or '24," if the country doesn't "solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020" — referring to the false and debunked idea that massive voter fraud plagued the 2020 presidential election between Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden. This genuine message from Trump was unrelated to the August 2022 tweet from The Halfway Post that referenced the DOJ.
In sum, no, Trump did not tell his supporters in August 2022 to boycott the upcoming midterm elections "because of how the DOJ is treating him so unfairly." This rumor originated from a Twitter account that describes its output as "satire" and "liberal comedy."