President Trump Has 'Evidence' Millions Voted Illegally, Spokesman Says Without Proof

The White House press secretary on Tuesday defended President Trump's claims that 3 to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election, maintaining that Trump has "evidence" of the fraud. If true, the illegal votes would constitute the biggest voting scandal in American history — but Trump has done nothing to have the allegations investigated.

The spokesman, Sean Spicer, was responding to a question about Trump's statements Monday night to a group of lawmakers that he would have won the popular vote, which he lost by nearly 3 million votes, were it not for the fraud he believed was committed.

"He was having a discussion with folks, and mentioned some things in passing, which has been a longstanding belief that he's maintained. This isn't the first time that you've heard this concern of his," Spicer told reporters Tuesday.

"He continues to maintain that belief, based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him," he said.

Asked whether or not the administration would investigate the election results for evidence of voter fraud, Spicer said, "Maybe we will." Later, when pressed about a potential investigation, Spicer seemed to back down, saying, "Anything's possible."

One of the pieces of evidence Spicer mentioned was a study from Pew claiming that 14 percent of people who voted are not citizens.

However, the Pew study does not at all show that. Instead, it showed that many voter registration files are out of date and need upgrading. This is not at all the same as 14 percent of voters being non-citizens.

Other studies have found, in fact, that there is very little evidence of voter fraud from the 2016 election. This aligns with previous findings that voter fraud is remarkably rare.

There was one study, discussed in the Washington Post, that suggested a small but meaningful number of non-citizens had admitted to voting in recent elections. However, this study has been widely criticized for multiple methodological issues. In particular, the findings could simply have been the result of a small number of respondents filling out the survey incorrectly.

But it's not only researchers who concluded that voter fraud isn't real. Trump's own lawyers, suing to stop the Michigan recount, made the same claim when filing their objection.

"All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake," the president's lawyers argued.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, responding to the voter fraud allegations, called Trump's claim a "total nonsensical statement."

He continued: "What I fear about that statement, and what we should all be worried about, is when Trump talks about 3 to 5 million people voting illegally, he is sending a message to every Republican governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression."

Some Republicans have also expressed concern about Trump's dubious assertions of voter fraud.

“It is the most inappropriate thing for the president to say without proof,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CNN. "People are going to start doubting you as a person if you keep making accusations against our electoral system without justification. This is going to erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it.”

Watch a clip of the briefing below:

Photo credit: Screenshot from YouTube