‘Blatant Lie’: Experts Smack Down Trump’s ‘False Assertions’ About Voting and Threats Against Key Swing States

President Donald Trump is being accused of engaging in voter suppression against key swing states and repeating the same type of threats that got him impeached.

Trump kicked off Tuesday with a tantrum of a half-dozen tweets about the fake unmasking “scandal,” the fake “Obamagate” “scandal,” a false claim “nothing else” except China is responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, a false suggestion Roger Stone is innocent, a false suggestion Joe Scarborough committed murder, and two attacks on states gearing up for voting by mail.

The President is terrified of voting by mail, because it will make it easier and safer for Americans to vote. The more people vote, the fewer Republicans get elected, and he knows that.

In fact, he’s said that.

“I will tell you this. If you look at before and after, the things they had in there were crazy,” Trump said in March about Democratic proposals to the $2.2 trillion coronavirus support bill. “They had things, um, levels of voting that if you ever agreed to it you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

Today, attacking key swing states Michigan and Nevada, Trump falsely claimed voting by mail creates “Voter Fraud,” which is false, and that even sending out applications to vote by mail is “illegal” – even though he himself votes by mail.

Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

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

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

On social media many immediately accused him of engaging in voter suppression.

Legal and voting rights experts (and a few journalists) were quick to debunk the President’s latest lies:

Trump is spreading lies about voting (again).

▶️Michigan is sending vote by mail applications, not ballots.
▶️This is exactly what several GOP secretaries of state are doing.
▶️It is completely legal and good policy.
▶️He can’t hold up funding to prevent people from voting. https://t.co/hTw3ENEEGg

— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) May 20, 2020

States run their own elections. Congress voted the funds to support voting in Covid relief bills. Trump, who has already publicly conceded Republicans can’t win if too many people vote, seems to think his power is limitless & includes controlling elections. https://t.co/uoncNjBHpt

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 20, 2020

And, Trump is wrong on the specifics. Michigan is mailing applications for absentee ballots, not ballots themselves, a sensible process given coronavirus. There is no support for Trump’s false assertions that mail in ballots lead to fraud, in fact he himself voted by mail.

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 20, 2020

Correction: @MichSoS @JocelynBenson is in compliance with all laws. Michigan voters approved no-excuse absentee voting in November. She is the elected official in charge of elections, and she is sending applications, not ballots, to all voters. https://t.co/uXsJBv0nAd

— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) May 20, 2020

1. Michigan sending absentee ballot applications not ballots to voters

2. @JocelynBenson one of best Secretaries of State in country & has authorization to do so

3. Threatening to block funding to sway election outcome exactly what Trump impeached for https://t.co/okDRAgc6uV

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 20, 2020

On same day Trump rants against protecting safety of voters, he’s packing the courts to suppress the vote.

Senate holds hearing on Cory Wilson today. Wilson doesn’t believe voter suppression exists so Trump wants him on appellate court covering MS, LA & TX. #StopWilson https://t.co/gBqb2ncZJ4

— Leslie Proll (@LeslieProll) May 20, 2020

Hey @Twitter, are you going to take down this blatant lie intended to misinform voters about election practices? Michigan is mailing absentee ballot APPLICATIONS, not ballots, to all registered voters. GOP election officials in Iowa, Georgia, WV are doing the same thing. https://t.co/YijqLOh2mG

— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) May 20, 2020

Leaving aside his characteristically imbecilic misuse of quotation marks, it is manifestly clear that Trump and his party are terrified to have people vote. The more Americans cast ballots, the more Democrats win. Voter suppression is a Republican strategy. https://t.co/R0iHSEKasW

— Clyde Haberman (@ClydeHaberman) May 20, 2020

Even though he himself voted by mail in Florida’s March primary, Trump is making a Ukraine-style threat to withhold federal aid for Michigan if the state allows its residents to vote by mail because of COVID-19. https://t.co/Lo6ez9GWZq

— Chris Sommerfeldt (@C_Sommerfeldt) May 20, 2020

This is false. Michigan is mailing absentee ballot applications, not ballots, to all registered voters. Georgia is doing the same thing. Ronna McDaniel told reporters Monday she didn’t object to the idea sending voters applications for mail in ballots https://t.co/jriUkH0NjZ https://t.co/FVNKOB3i5p

— Sam Levine (@srl) May 20, 2020

“Hey MIchigan, I need you to do us a favor though.” https://t.co/1fGftQA9VL

— Jay Bookman (@jaysbookman) May 20, 2020

UPDATE –

Another day: President tweets baseless accusation that Democrat broke the law, deletes because of typo, reposts, deletes because central allegation is wrong, reposts with central allegation corrected but baseless accusation of illegality still there. https://t.co/HvmYyTuCTG

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 20, 2020