This time it’s aimed at the right to vote
Before his executive order aimed at keeping US Green Card holders and refugees out of the country based on their religion, much of President Trump’s time since being sworn-in has been spent fixated on his popular vote loss to Hillary Clinton. In an early morning tweet last month, Trump called for a “major investigation” into voter fraud, claiming that “millions” of illegal votes were cast in the 2016 General Election. In an interview with FoxNews’ Bill O’Reilly later that week, he confirmed that Vice-President Pence will lead a commission to investigate Trump’s fabricated voter registration concerns. As Trump’s own attorneys have recognized — millions of illegal votes were not cast in the General Election and there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump’s concerns about voter fraud are not based on facts. Rather, they are alternative facts — aka lies — meant to confuse voters, signal Republican legislators to ramp up their efforts to enact restrictive voting laws, and provide comfort for vote suppressors.
Let’s start with the “evidence” Trump offers for his false claim: Trump told Congressional leaders that part of the basis for his voter fraud claims is the alleged voting experience of professional golfer and German citizen Bernhard Langer. According to Trump, Langer purportedly told him that he was not allowed to vote in Florida on Election Day, but he witnessed “voters who did not look as if they should be allowed to vote” — read Hispanic — being allowed to cast provisional ballots. Langer’s daughter has since confirmed that Langer is not an American citizen but, rather, a German citizen with permanent residence status in the U.S. As a German citizen, Langer cannot legally vote in the United States and, if the story is true (which Langer denies), was properly turned away. Thus, Trump’s professed impetus for launching a sweeping investigation into voter fraud proves the exact opposite of his voter fraud claims. Our system is working noncitizen votes are not being cast.
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