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


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"The reasons we wrote the report is because we were studying the degree to which records were out of date, mostly because people move," Becker said.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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'More must be done'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Are masked ICE agents America's new secret police?
Today's Big Question Critics say masks undermine trust in law enforcement
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders