Trump said in a post in Truth Social late Friday that he wants voter ID laws implemented before the 2026 midterm elections, even though legislation requiring it appears to be on the verge of stalling in Congress.
“The Democrats refuse to vote for voter ID or citizenship. The reason is very simple: they want to continue cheating in elections,” Trump said. posted on Truth Social.
“This was not what our founders desired. I have searched the depths of the legal arguments that have not yet been articulated or vetted on this subject, and will present an irrefutable argument in the very near future. There will be a voter ID for the midterm elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” he continued.
In one second messageMinutes after the first one was published, Trump said: “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are legal reasons why this SCAM is not allowed. I will present them in the form of an Executive Order shortly.”
Under pressure from Trump, his allies in the House of Representatives and Senate and conservative online influencers, the issue of voter identification has dominated social media and reverberated through the halls of Congress in recent days. Trump’s comments have also raised fears among Democrats and voting rights groups that the president could try to intervene in this year’s crucial midterm elections as Republicans try to hold on to slim majorities in both chambers.
Samuel Corum | Sipa | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a 218-213 vote on a Trump-backed election bill called the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to vote. All but one of the Democrats voted against the proposal, which critics say would disenfranchise millions of people and make it harder for people, including women whose birth certificates would not show a married name, to register.
It now moves to the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Republicans have just 53 seats in the House — and one, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has spoken out against the proposal. More than a handful of Democrats would need to support the legislation for it to pass. Only one Democrat in the Senate, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, has supported national voter ID requirements, although he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week that he does not support other voting restrictions, such as limiting mail-in ballots.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has vowed that Democrats will block the bill, calling it “dead on arrival.”
“The SAVE Act is not a mainstream bill at all. It’s a fringe piece of legislation that the Republican Party has now taken over and masquerades as election security, when in reality it’s about laying the groundwork to interfere with the midterm elections and make it much harder for people to vote,” Schumer said from the Senate floor this week.
Trump recently said he wants to nationalize the federal elections and revive election conspiracies, launching an FBI investigation into the election results in Fulton County, Georgia, a state the president has repeatedly and without evidence said he won in 2020.
The Constitution gives states control over most aspects of U.S. elections.
In his second post on Friday, Trump framed the midterm elections in existential terms.
“These corrupt and deranged Democrats, if they ever gain power, will not only add two states to our roster of 50, with all the baggage that entails, but will also pack the Court with a total of 21 Supreme Court Justices, THEIR DREAM, which they will easily and quickly file if they immediately move to end the Filibuster, likely in their first week, if not sooner,” Trump wrote.
“Our country will never be the same if they allow these demented and evil people to destroy it knowingly and with pleasure. Thank you for your attention to this issue – SAVE AMERICA!” he continued.
#Trump #issue #executive #order #voter #identification #requirements #place #midterm #elections