White House Press Secretary Offers No Clarity On Trump's Call To Vote Twice
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered no clarity Thursday on President Donald Trump’s call for people to try voting twice, once by mail and once in person, to test the U.S. electoral system.
The subject came up when a reporter asked her to acknowledge that voting twice in the same election is illegal.
“The president does not condone unlawful voting,” McEnany responded. “The president’s been very clear about this. Once again, not surprised the media is taking the president out of context.”
Trump caused a stir on Wednesday when he told a group of supporters in North Carolina that they should vote by mail ― a process he has repeatedly claimed without evidence is ripe for voter fraud― and then see what happens when they try to vote in-person, too.
“If you get the unsolicited ballots, send it in and then go — make sure it counted,” he said. “And if it doesn’t tabulate, you vote. You just vote. And then if they tabulate it very late, which they shouldn’t be doing, they’ll see you voted, and so it won’t count. So, send it in early, and then go and vote. And if it’s not tabulated — you vote. And the vote is going to count.”
He said the same to reporters that day: “Let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote.”
The president later tweeted the suggestion, too. (Twitter partially blocked those posts on the grounds that they violated its rules on “civic and election integrity.”)
Double voting is illegal and carries felony charges in some states.
McEnany argued that Trump’s suggestion was simply a way for people to “verify that your vote’s been counted” if they mailed it in. “If it is not tabulated, meaning your mail-in vote, then you will be able to vote in person,” she stated.
That’s not entirely true. In 14 states, including a few battleground...
