Trump says the author of Pew study he cites is 'groveling' by denying vote fraud. Watch the researcher's response.


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
On CNN Tuesday afternoon, Jake Tapper dared President Trump to launch an investigation to prove his baseless, widely debunked assertion that 3-5 million people voted illegally in the last election. Trump did just that on Wednesday, and in an interview with ABC's David Muir that aired Wednesday night, Muir asked him about his extraordinary claim. Trump stood by it, mostly.
"You have people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states," Trump said. "You have people registered in two states. They're registered in a New York and a New Jersey. They vote twice. There are millions of votes, in my opinion." Muir pointed out that "what you have presented so far has been debunked," and Trump disagreed: "No, it hasn't. Take a look at the Pew reports." Muir said he spoke with the author of the Pew report on Tuesday night and he'd said they found no evidence of fraud. "Really? Then why did he write the report?" Trump asked. "Excuse me, then why did he write the report?"
Trump proffered a theory: "He's groveling again. You know, I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they wanna write something that you wanna hear but not necessarily millions of people wanna hear or have to hear.... Now, you're telling me Pew report has all of a sudden changed. But you have other reports and you have other statements." He said that his investigation will vindicate him, and that of the millions of illegal votes, "none of 'em come to me," adding later, "They all voted for Hillary. They didn't vote for me. I don't believe I got one."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Wolf Blitzer played part of the interview on Wednesday night, then brought on the lead author of the Pew study, David Becker, to respond.
"The reasons we wrote the report is because we were studying the degree to which records were out of date, mostly because people move," Becker said. Trump was right that there are millions of voters on rolls who have moved, and in 2012 there were up to 1.8 million people who died since they last voted, he said, "but there's a big leap between an out-of-date record, an administrative inefficiency on a list, and the act of voter fraud. It just doesn't happen. This is not something that hasn't been looked at," he added, but the regular state and federal investigations have found that voter fraud just isn't a problem.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Seasonal attire
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Sophie Turner sues Joe Jonas for 'immediate return' of their kids, 'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud's cause of death revealed, and more
The daily gossip: September 21, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Romney's seat
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Rishi Sunak lambasts China after allegations of spy in UK Parliament
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Judge denies Mark Meadows' request to move Georgia case to federal court
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson dies at 75
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Clarence Thomas officially discloses trips from billionaire GOP donor
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Judge schedules Trump federal election plot trial for crowded March 2024
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin ally-turned-rival, presumed dead in plane crash
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Mar-a-Lago IT director flipped on Trump after dropping Trump-linked lawyer, special counsel says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published