House Democrat: Trump ‘lied to the American public’ in primetime address

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Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, accused President Trump of misleading the country in his Thursday evening speech about the state of election security in the U.S.

“The president of the United States lied to the American public today,” Himes said on MS NOW following the primetime address.

“It was a bald-faced, 180 degree, obviously provable lie,” he continued.

Himes said he reviewed the trove of reports released Thursday evening by the White House that claimed to produce new evidence to support the president’s claims of widespread voter fraud. Independent experts have said these documents contain previously reported weaknesses in the electoral process.

“There is absolutely nothing in that intelligence that substantiates what he was saying,” Himes said.

The president also used his speech Thursday evening to press Republican lawmakers to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act — his self-described No. 1 legislative priority.

The bill, which would place stronger identification requirements for Americans when registering to vote or going to cast their ballots, is broadly opposed by Democrats in Congress.

“What we’re talking about here is not the SAVE Act, which is an abomination, but it is about setting the stage for Donald Trump to reject the results of the upcoming election,” Himes said.

“This is a moment for the American people to say, ‘What is going on here?’” he continued, directing the public to the documents that the White House released Thursday evening.

“Look at the China section and look at document after document after document, which is nothing but black lines of redaction. That tells the story,” he said.

Other Democrats raised alarm that the Trump administration would attempt to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections this fall after the president’s speech.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (D), whose state has been at the center of Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims, accused the president of “clearly signaling his intent to attack these elections and to undermine voting rights” in an interview with MS NOW.

“And you know it’s going to be right here in Georgia, the critical battleground state.”

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Donald Trump

Jim Himes

Jon Ossoff

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