President Donald Trump, who is literally on the verge of ignoring a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to not include a citizenship question on the Census, on Friday told reporters the “number one” reason he wants to add the question is for the drawing of congressional districts.
Experts say he just showed his hand – or, as some said, “gave up the game.”
If President Trump is trying to include a citizenship question for the drawing of congressional districts, he might be surprised to know that the U.S. Constitution makes clear the Census must count everyone living in the United States – not just citizens. And congressional districts are to be based on the number of people living in an area – not just the number of U.S. citizens.
“If you look at the history of our country, it’s almost always been asked,” Trump said Friday of the citizenship question on the decennial census.
That’s false. It has been asked on small, annual updates, but for many decades not on the constitutionally-mandated Census.
“We’re fighting very hard against the system,” Trump said, telegraphing to his base that considers him an outsider fighting for white conservatives.
“You need it for many reasons, number one for Congress, for districting,” Trump said, which is entirely false – unless his goal is to undercount minorities and non-citizen immigrants.
Watch (begins at the 14:10 mark):
Here’s what experts are saying:
U.S. Supreme Court reporter for Reuters:
Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times and MSNBC analyst:
U.S. Congressman:
Senior political reporter for The Washington Post:
ThinkProgress and Popular Information founder:
Senator Dianne Feinstein’s press secretary:
Senior campaigns and elections editor, chief polling analyst for Politico:
UPDATE I: 1:15 PM ET –
MSNBC’s Pete Williams just said on-air, “I think the President’s giving it away,” meaning, he just showed his hand during his remarks today.
UPDATE II: 1:37 PM ET –
Former Obama WH lawyer: