Fears that Donald Trump may interfere with — or even cancel — the midterms are growing, and The Daily Show host Michael Kosta isn't taking the comments lightly.

"Forgive me for being serious for a moment, but the president suggesting that he might cancel the midterms appears to be the inflection point toward a dictatorship that our nation cannot return," he says. "This is serious."

Cue footage from January of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responding to a reporter's question about the comments by saying that Trump was "simply joking".

"Oh hahahah, it's a joke!" says Kosta. "Forget it, it was a joke! Phew, that is a relief, oh my God. I guess I was worried that it wasn't a joke, because it's a little unusual for a president to joke about cancelling an election. And also this particular president actually did try to overturn an election, so I guess I don't get the joke?"

Kosta goes on to discuss Trump's recent suggestion that Republicans should "take over the voting", as well as the FBI's recent raid of Georgia's election office.

"I think it's pretty clear that Trump is not joking about meddling in the election this year," says Kosta. "And the only way we can prevent it is if everyone stands up to stop it. Especially Republican."