How US lawmakers are reacting to Trump's address on election security
Trump escalated his effort to make election security a central issue in November's midterm elections, asserting that China interfered in the 2020 presidential campaign despite a US intelligence assessment that found no evidence to support that claim.
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedDemocrats and Republicans are divided over a recent speech by Donald Trump regarding the SAVE Act. While Democrats condemn the rhetoric as reprehensible, Republicans are split between those who fear it distracts from key campaign issues and those who believe it creates necessary momentum for legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote.
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Democrats are completely aghast over the speech, and very publicly so.
I talked to one lawmaker immediately afterward who said it was one of the most
reprehensible things he's ever seen out of a president speaking from the White House,
who said that it showed Donald Trump doesn't actually know how federal elections work.
On the Republican side, the response is mixed.
I talked to some lawmakers who privately are disappointed in the president's speech.
They feel like it set the Republican Party back in terms of the issues they need to win on in
November. And then others are very enthusiastic about the SAVE Act, which is this legislation
that President Trump wants to force through Congress. And they say anything that creates
momentum to move that through Congress is a good thing, including the president's speech.
The big piece of this bill on elections is not just photo ID to vote, but proof of citizenship
to vote. And in some states, that means a driver's license wouldn't do it. That would mean
a social security card and a passport and various forms of ID. It would mean if you
changed your name after you were married, it could complicate your ability to cast a ballot,
or at least show up and seamlessly do it at your polling place.
The filibuster is key here. That is the 60-vote threshold required to legislate
in the Senate. The SAVE America Act does not have 60 votes in the Senate,
not just because Democrats control 47 seats, but I think there are some Republicans who
wouldn't go for this either. And that's for a couple of reasons. One, politically,
it could make voting for Republican voters in red states harder because of mail-in voting
restrictions, because of proof of citizenship, because of the constituent services that would
be needed to facilitate these elections. So that's one. And two, politically, this would
be dicey. It would basically turn the entire midterm elections into a referendum on election
integrity, which is the word the president likes to use. That is not a winning issue for Republicans.