Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut struggled to give a clear answer on Monday when asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper about President Donald Trump’s executive order related to mail-in ballots.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s order related to ensuring only U.S. citizens vote by mail-in ballot could go forward.
The directive requires states to send a list of the names of those receiving mail-in ballots so their eligibility to vote can be verified, with the Department of Homeland Security working in conjunction with the Social Security Administration.
“The Federal Government has an unavoidable duty under Article II of the Constitution of the United States to enforce Federal law, which includes preventing violations of Federal criminal law and maintaining public confidence in election outcomes,” the order read.
The U.S. Postal Service was instructed not to deliver ballots to those unverified as citizens.
Further, states are required to have “unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as bar codes, [to] enable confirmation that only citizens receive and cast ballots, reducing the risk of fraud and protecting the integrity of Federal elections.”
“In your view, what is the harm in the Department of Homeland Security creating a list of eligible voters?” Cooper asked Murphy.
“Well, ultimately, Trump doesn’t want people to vote, and he’s going to be very selective about who he doesn’t want to vote. He doesn’t want people who are more likely to vote for Democrats to vote,” Murphy said.
“So he’s going to instruct either the Department of Homeland Security or the Postal Service, potentially, to remove people from the voter rolls or to profile people for removal from the voter rolls that are more likely to vote for Democrats, for instance, people who live in cities,” the lawmaker continued, as Cooper remained expressionless.
So his argument apparently is that if non-citizens vote, they are more likely to vote Democrat.
Murphy, who is reportedly considering a 2028 run for president, then went off the topic of voter integrity entirely, saying Trump is using his position as president to enrich himself.
Hellbound and Down 