Donald Trump likes to say there was massive voter fraud in the 2016 election that he won. It’s not totally clear why he likes to say this made-up thing that makes no sense to harp on, but here we are. The problem with making it up as you go is that sometimes you get backed into a corner. That’s fine if you’re the lovable, sometimes mildly annoying local at the neighborhood watering hole: Everyone rolls their eyes at your alternative fact–based story, someone puts another song on the jukebox, life goes on. Being president is different than being a drinking buddy.
So when the current president of the United States tells a room full of, ahem, congressmen and -women that between 3 million and 5 million people voted illegally, he’s probably going to have to back that up somehow. No problem! Ask Gregg Phillips!
Wait. Who’s Gregg Phillips? Exactly! He is nobody. Phillips is Republican operative that’s gung-ho and either a bit loony or utterly craven.
But what kind of voter “fraud” are we talking about here?
Aha. Being registered in more than one state. Like White House overlord Steve Bannon, treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin, and Trump’s own daughter Tiffany Trump, all of whom were reportedly registered in multiple states on Nov. 8? Oof. Well, at least we still have random guy Gregg Phillips to look to as the model voter capable of hunting down people like the president’s colleagues and family members. Right, Gregg?
Wrong.
“Gregg Phillips, whose unsubstantiated claim that the election was marred by 3 million illegal votes was tweeted by the president, was listed on the rolls in Alabama, Texas and Mississippi, according to voting records and election officials in those states,” the Associated Press reports. “At the time of November’s presidential election, Phillips’ status was ‘inactive’ in Mississippi and suspended in Texas. Officials in both states told the AP that Phillips could have voted, however, by producing identification and updating his address at the polls.”
But did Phillips commit voter fraud? No. He only voted once, in Alabama. Just like, dare I say it, 100 percent of other voters who were inadvertently registered in multiple states.
