During an interview with Chris Wallace, Trump claimed that Fox News polls showing him losing to Biden were fake, and declined to answer definitively if he would accept the 2020 election results if he lost.
I have to see. Look, you – I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say ‘yes.’
Trump has repeatedly attacked mail-in voting despite the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, though he used mail-in voting himself. In the lead up to the 2016 campaign, Trump similarly declined to say whether he would accept the election results. Even though he ultimately won, he blamed the loss of the popular vote on mass voter fraud.
When voting in the 2017 New York City mayoral election, Trump penned the wrong birth date for his ballot. According to the New York Daily News, despite being born on June 14, 1946, his ballot application listed July as his birthday, which could have led it to be considered invalid.
The rest of Trump’s family fared no better with their absentee ballots. Trump’s wife Melania failed to sign her ballot, rendering it invalid. His daughter Ivanka mailed hers too late to be counted. His son-in-law Jared Kushner failed to vote at all.
Donald, Melania, Ivanka, and Jared. AP / Paul Sancya
In a May 2020 meeting with two state governors, Trump threatened to withhold federal election funding for states expanding mail-in voting. He repeated unfounded claims about mail-in voting, and said people should vote in person because to do so is “an honor.”
I think just common sense would tell you that it’s massive manipulation can take place. Massive.
They — and you do; you have cases of fraudulent ballots, where they actually print them and they give them to people sign. Maybe the same person signs them with different writing, different pens. I don’t know. It’s — a lot of things can happen.
No, if you can, you should go and vote. Voting is an honor. It shouldn’t be something where they send you a pile of stuff and you send it back.
Trump also stepped up his attacks on Twitter.
State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45@USTreasury
Despite his multiple claims about mail-in voting being rife with fraud, Trump admitted that he voted by mail, defending it because “he was allowed to.”
President Trump: "I think mail-in voting is horrible, it's corrupt."
Reporter: "You voted by mail in Florida's election last month, didn't you?"
In 2019, Trump updated his voter registration to Florida while listing the White House as his out-of-state address. This is prohibited in Florida, which by law requires that voters be legal residents. Trump re-registered, listing his Mar-a-Lago address instead. Trump used this new registration to vote in Florida’s Republican primary.
However, when Mar-a-Lago was converted from a single-family residence to a private club in 1993, the agreement with the local government prohibited it from bring used or taxed as a residence. Per the stipulations, any visitor was restricted to staying a maximum of 21 days per year, though Trump has repeatedly violated that provision, as well.
Though likely done in error, as are most mail-in voting discrepancies, exactly such an example is cited by the White House as an example of felony voter fraud.
Beyond Trump's dangerous, dishonest claims of widespread voter fraud, it's really rich because the WH website uses the case of someone trying to vote at their second home as an example of voter fraud! https://t.co/syhg4fsehhpic.twitter.com/pEIyXy89Ck
— American Bridge 21st Century (@American_Bridge) June 3, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence also voted by mail using his old Indiana address in the state’s primary election. Because he made no attempt to register in Washington DC, and his Indiana home is a legal residence, there were no questions regarding the legality of his vote. However, his use of a mail-in ballot still undercut the administration’s claims regarding its unreliability. Additionally, Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany regularly voted by mail, but still railed against attempts to expand mail-in voting “for no reason.”
Trump and Melania voting in 2016. Reuters/Carlo Allegri
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and US stimulus packages, Democrats pushed for increased funding for absentee and vote-by-mail options. The proposal was for $400 million to be distributed through the federal Election Assistance Commission and subsequently distributed to the states to ensure that voting would be possible for all, with equal access, even if the pandemic persisted. Critics said the funding suggested was still far too little for such a nation-wide initiative.
During a Fox & Friends interview, Trump declared, “The things they had in there were crazy. They had things – levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
Trump openly admitting if we made voting easier in America, Republicans wouldn't win elections
Trump: "The things they had in there were crazy. They had levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again." pic.twitter.com/x5HmX6uogo
When asked about his comments at a press conference, Trump said, “I think that mail in voting is a terrible thing. I think if you vote, you should go, and even the concept of early voting is not the greatest.” Several states allow for voting by mail, and Oregon, Washington, and Colorado do so exclusively.
He had also questioned the validity of mail-in ballots during the campaign.
After taking office, Trump formed the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity by executive order to investigate the alleged mass fraud. Vice President Mike Pence led the commission.
Trump Signs Executive Order establishing a voter fraud commission on May 11, 2017. Wikipedia
Multiple lawsuits were filed by organizations including the ACLU and Electronic Privacy Information Center, as well as one of the commission’s own members. The suits alleged lack of transparency and blatant partisanship.
The commission ran from May 11, 2017 to January 3, 2018, when it was disbanded after having found no evidence of the claimed voter fraud.
The commission member who filed suit, Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, later explained, “even though the idea was to investigate voter fraud, it is pretty clear that the purpose of the commission was to actually affirm and validate the president’s claims whether or not we had any evidence of any such voter misconduct.”
Nevertheless, Trump continued to repeat his claims of mass voter fraud. The same year that the commission was disbanded, Trump justified voter ID laws by claiming that Americans need photo ID even to buy groceries. He also later accused mail-in-voting as being a vehicle for fraud, alleging that implementing such measures amid the COVID-19 crisis would mean no Republican would ever be elected again.
“We believe that only American citizens should vote in American elections. Which is why the time has come for voter ID, like everything else. Voter ID. You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture. In this country, the only time you don’t need it, in many cases, is when you want to vote for a President, when you want to vote for a Senator, or a governor or Congressmen, it’s crazy. It’s crazy.”
Trump claimed that he lost the popular vote because of millions of double votes and illegal immigrants committing voter fraud. Though he repeated the claims many times, no evidence has been provided. He has asserted that voter ID laws are necessary to curb fraud, saying that Americans need ID to buy groceries but not to vote.
The claims began immediately after Trump’s election victory.
In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally
Trump repeated the assertions even after inauguration. Then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in Trump’s defense,
I think he’s stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have presented to him.
Gloating about the map, Trump said, “The red is obviously us.” He had previously explained that he’d only lost the popular vote by 3 million people because of mass fraud.
A reporter holds a printout of the 2016 election map, handed to him by the President. CNN
Roy Moore ran for a the Senate seat for Alabama in the 2018 midterms after it was revealed that that he pursued sexual interactions with teenagers, including a 14 year old, while in his 30s.
Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Majority Leader Paul Ryan both said they considered the claims credible. Moore lost the race for the Alabama Senate seat.
