Tomorrow, millions of Americans will cast ballots in an election widely viewed as a referendum on President Donald Trump.
Judging by his actions Monday morning, the president would prefer that fewer Americans show up at their polling places and contribute to his first national performance review.
Trump engaged in a bit of voter intimidation on Twitter, warning no one in particular that law enforcement has been “strongly notified” to keep an eye out for “ILLEGAL VOTING” and will enforce the “Maximum Criminal Penalties” possible against those caught committing such fraud:
The tweet is a continuation of Trump’s long obsession with alleged “voter fraud.” Ever since he was elected in 2016 despite losing the popular vote by about 2.8 million ballots, he has been claiming that he would have won the popular vote were it not for 3 million to 5 million “illegals” who supposedly voted for Hillary Clinton.
Neither Trump nor the voter fraud commission he unceremoniously ended in January has come up with evidence to support his claim.
But Trump still leans heavily on his debunked talking point, telling reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Monday that there’s a “lot of proof” people vote illegally:
Numerous independent studies have also failed to find evidence of widespread voter fraud.
This article has been updated with Trump’s claim of a “lot of proof.”