Trump issues SHOCKING election THREAT ahead of midterms

This is Democracy Watch. Mark, in Donald. Trump's latest speech, he said something. that you have been particularly focused. on and sounding the alarm about. I'm. going to throw to that clip right here. Why would anybody not want voter ID? One. reason because they want to cheat. There's only one reason. They make up all excuses. They say it's. racist. They come up with things. You. almost say, "What imagination they. have?" They want to cheat. They have. cheated. And their policy is so bad that. the only way they can get elected is to.

cheat. And we're gonna stop it. We have. to stop it, Josh. So that was Trump obviously at the State. of the Union talking about the Save Act. and he says, "Why would anybody not want. it? There's only one reason. It's. because they're trying to cheat. We have. to have it. we must have it. So, can you. give some insight into why Donald Trump. is so hellbent here on making this.

happen and your level of concern that. he's going to get this done? >> All right. So, I need everyone to pay. attention to this video because this was. not Donald Trump speaking off the cuff. This was Donald Trump speaking off of a. teleprompter. So, when he said these. things, you can't dismiss this like we. always get from the right-wing, "Oh, that was just Donald Trump riffing.". >> Yeah. Donald Trump said that he needs. Republicans to pass the Save Act. He. said that John, who he's referring to in. the end, that's John Thun. He is saying.

they have to get it done. And you there. is a big push right now by Donald Trump. and the White House and Republicans to. try to destroy the filibuster, try to. try to override it and try to get. through what will be the largest voter. suppression bill in American history. Okay, this is a bill that Donald Trump. wants because it will make it harder for. people to register to vote, particularly. Democrats. It will make it harder for. people to vote, particularly Democrats.

It'll make it easier for states to purge. voters. You know, the Republicans. legislators and governors want to purge. Democrats. And he wants to ban, as you. heard him say, ban mailin voting except. for members of the military and people. who have excuses. This is Donald Trump's. wish list for how he wants to steal the. 2026 election and we can't let him do. it. >> Well, you know, there are a lot of. people on the left who say, "Okay, they're talking about eliminating the. filibuster right now. Democrats have. wanted to eliminate the filibuster for.

decades. This might be our in." And so. what do you say to those folks who may. be willing to sacrifice what the Save. Act is trying to do in order to get in a. world where the filibuster no longer uh. limits what legislation can get can get. passed. >> All right. So Donald Trump has said that. if they pass this bill, they will not. lose another election for 50 years. >> Now, I think that's hyperbole. I don't. think that's true. But it is true that.

this bill will make it easier for. Republicans to cheat in elections while. making it harder for you to vote. And so. giving up the right to vote, giving up. your ability to to elect uh Democrats uh. and candidates of choice this November. for some wish list down the road for. when Democrats have a trifecta in the. House and the Senate and the presidency. That is a terrible trade. And anyone who. tells you to make that trade, run the. other way. So, I'm going to talk to you. about one issue in particular that's.

contained within this bill, and that's. the issue of voter ID. And I want to. talk about that because that's an issue. that the majority of Americans actually. do support. And so, they're going to. look at this and they're going to say, well, the Save Act is just uh, you know, voter ID and I agree that we should have. to show our ID at the polls and so why. not? And so, what's your response to. those people? >> Yeah. So, first of all, listen to what. Donald Trump is saying. Okay. He's not. saying just we need some voter ID law, right? He's not saying that, you know, if you got a voter ID law where people.

are bringing, for example, their college. IDs issued by state schools that they. should be allowed to vote. No, in fact, the Save Act specifically says that. those people can't vote. He's not saying. that, you know, people who are retired. and in, you know, maybe in an assisted. living facility and need care and don't. have a driver's license that their care. their their caregiver can swear on an. affidavit and say this is this is the. person I take care of and this they. aren't. No, they're saying that doesn't. work. So, when they talk about ID, they.

are talking about a very very narrow. subset of ID. If Republicans want to. have a good faith uh discussion of ID, I. am all ears. I'm happy to have that. discussion. In fact, if you go back to. the Freedom to Vote Act, which was the. Democratic bill, there were provisions. in there about about ID. You know, it. was in a different it was a much longer. list, right? It it allowed for a lot. more things. But if Republicans want to. have a good faith discussion about ID, fine, let's have that good faith. discussion of ID. But that's not this. bill. This bill is not a good faith.

discussion of ID. And it's not limited. to ID. It is also about proof of. citizenship which is just a fancy way of. saying kick off the roles tens of. millions of voters particularly women. who change their last name but not only. women who change their last name. This. is also a bill about purging forcing. states to purge every month. Okay? So. don't tell me this is like a voter ID. bill sitting out there all by its. lonesome. This is a pernicious efforts. by Republicans to make it harder for you. to vote and easier for them to cheat.

And don't forget that. I want to talk. about one provision in particular and. that is the voter role provision um that. that you had just alluded to. And before. I ask this next question, I want to note. for everybody watching that the effort. by Republicans to get states to send. their voter roles into the federal. government which contain information. like for example your social security. number. The bull work between that going. to the federal government is Mark and. his team. It's his firm that's. litigating 24 cases right now. 23 states. plus Washington DC. They are what's.

standing between Donald Trump's federal. government getting the voter roles in. these states getting sent over to the. federal government which includes again. your social security number. Think about. it. The best way to know how to suppress. the votes is knowing whose votes need to. be suppressed. That's what information. you get from the voter roles. So given. the fact that Mark and his team are the. people standing in between that process. being affectuated by Trump, a small step. that we can all take to support his work. is to sign up for democracy docket. That's the news outlet Mark founded to.

focus on everything voting in elections. It's not just a great way to support him. in the courts where he's actually. battling for democracy, but it's a way. to elevate his voice in the ecosystem. And especially amid the failures of. legacy media, that has never been more. important. So, I'm going to put that. link right here on the screen and also. in the post description of this video. If you're not yet signed up for. Democracy Docket, please do yourself a. favor and sign up. And so, Mark, given. the fact that the administration is. trying to gain access to these voter. roles, what's the status of that effort? Yeah. So, you need to realize this is. like a multi-pronged attack. Republicans.

are attacking democracy from all. different directions. So, you've got, you know, the members of the Congress, the Republicans trying to pass this law. You've got state legislatores and state. governors and Republican states passing. their own bad laws. And then, as you. point out, you've got the Department of. Justice, Donald Trump's Department of. Justice. Pam Bondi and Cash Patel are. behind the largest power grab to. undermine free and fair elections in. history. Okay, don't forget that it's.

Pam Bondi. It's Cash Patel and it is an. absolute outrage and it is something we. all need to pay paying attention to. because what they are doing is going to. each and every one of these states. trying to get this information. Now, they have lost the first set of cases. that they brought. Okay. Pam Bondi has. lost the first set of cases. Cash Patel. is off presumably, you know, drinking. beer and wherever. >> Yeah. So, asking people for medals for. sports games that he didn't win.

>> Correct. Um but uh but Pam Bonnie's got. her lawyers out there getting and. they've lost the first few cases that. they have brought. We've been we have. prevailed in um uh in four states. But. look, there are still 20. >> Quick question on that. Are you. litigating in each individual state? This is not some like this is not some. national effort. You have to go to each. individual state where they're seeking. to to gain the voter roles and you're. litigating. >> This is state this is state by state. This is handtohand combat. Everyone this. is like you know I I one of the things. about being a voting lawyer and and.

dealing with elections is you don't get. to bring the one case and like have it. be in federal court someplace and then. it like bubbles up to the Supreme Court. No, you have to be litigating in every. state. Sometimes in multiple places in. the same state in different counties. Sometimes you're in state court, sometimes you're in federal court. So, yeah, my my law firm, we are we are in. 80 cases. Actually, we're in 85 cases. right now. Uh, in 40 states, and that. includes in some states in multiple. places, and 25 of those cases involve. these voter roles and and and you know.

that you look, we we are in the case in. Hawaii, not the worst case to be. involved in. So, one of one of my. lawyers going to get to fly to Hawaii to. to argue this. Uh, not terrible. We're. also in uh in Vermont, you know, and. it's the winter. Uh so you know it's. kind of like uh but it's everywhere. >> Yeah. So to that end, do you think that. there's going to come a point where if. they have lost enough cases that they. could abandon this effort or given what. you know about this DOJ, given what you. know about Pam Bondi uh and Donald Trump. and the Cash Vatels of the world, do you.

think that they will just continue to to. drag this out in each state even if. there's the possibility that they can. get the voter roles from even one state? >> They'll never give up and neither will. we. I mean, but they're not going to. give up. And and and so I go into this. with the attitude that, you know, Pam. Bondi is going to do whatever she can to. subvert free and fair elections. You. know, Cash Patel is going to do his part. as well. Donald Trump for sure as hell. is going to lie and cheat and do and and. instruct his administration to do. everything they possibly can. And. Republicans in the House and Senate,

they're going to go along for the ride. I mean, you know, one of the things that. drives me crazy is, you know, people try. to draw distinctions between these. Republicans. They'll be like, "Yeah, that's Donald Trump, but it's not so and. so." You know, remember remember uh. Brian when um when Donald Trump was in. the Oval Office and said that uh. Republicans should take over the voting. uh and uh you know in at least 15 places. maybe we can just show a brief clip of. that. >> The federal government should get. involved. Uh these are agents of the.

federal government to count the votes. >> All right. So right to his right, you. know who's standing there is is is Susan. Collins. She's clutching a MAGA hat. like like like like you know like yeah. you see Mike Johnson in that video you. see the usual suspects but you also see. >> Susan which is so weird because we've. been told that these moderates are. always going to serve as a check on. Donald Trump and it's almost like there. are no moderates. >> It's almost like there are no moderates, right? Because he's he's there saying we. need to you know we Republicans need to. over the elections. Susan Collins is.

there holding a MAGA hat. Like tell me. that there are any moderates in the in. the caucus. You know, Susan Collins's. voting record is uh she votes for Donald. Trump 96% of the time. You know who else. is? Mitch McConnell. Like literally, this is who they're pedalling to you in. the legacy media as moderates. And so, don't buy that crap. Really, what you. need to do is subscribe to this channel. because Brian gives you the straight. scoop, not just on voting, but. everything going on in politics and. going on in culture. And so, make sure. you are subscribed to this channel. Make. sure you also hit the bell to get. alerted when there's new content because.

honestly there is a lot of new content. coming all the time and particularly in. as we get closer to the elections. It's. going to be critical that you not just. have the news information analysis you. need but you have it on a timely basis. So go ahead and I'm going to say I'm. going to put that up on the screen right. now so that people can click on it. >> Well, I appreciate that. Uh last. question here, Mark. What is next as far. as the SAVE act is concerned? Look, so. Mike Johnson, you know, is used to being. in this squeezed position between Donald.

Trump that wants something and a House. Republican conference that has a very. narrow majority and may not want it. And. if you bet against Donald Trump, >> that is not what I thought. I thought. you were going to say used to being. squeezed somewhere in the small. intestines of Donald Trump's colon. That. notwithstanding, go on. >> All right. And if you bet against Donald. Trump winning in those cases, you were. usually wrong. So, you know, John Thoon. is going to make a lot of noises about, you know, how Senate Republicans have. their prerogatives and he's consulting. with his conference and maybe they'll.

stand up to Donald Trump. Let me let you. make some easy money. Bet against any. Republican standing up against Donald. Trump. I think that what's going to. happen here is that Senate Republicans. will pretend that they have an. independent will and then they will all. fold and, you know, maybe Lisa Marowski. doesn't, you know, and a couple and a. handful of others don't. And then the. question is how long is John Thoon. willing to tie up the Senate? Because if. they try to force this talking. filibuster, it will not go on for hours. It will not go on for days. It'll go on. for weeks or months, right? Because.

because the way this works is each each. senator can then speak a new and as you. know, Brian, they can they can um force. votes on non-gerermanine amendments. What does that mean? They can make the. Republicans vote over and over again on. for example healthcare. They can make uh. Republicans vote over and over again on. you know taxing uh you know corporations. that poison you know wells yeah well. water right they can they can over and. over again make Republicans take hard. votes. So this would go on for a very.

long time. And you might say well but. the Republicans then will give in. Donald Trump doesn't give a about. hard votes for Republicans. >> Like he doesn't care about them. And the. question is whether enough Senate. Republicans will realize that Donald. Trump doesn't give a about them. that they just say, you know what, we're. done and we're not going to walk the. plank for this guy or you know what the. alternative is. >> Right. Right. Well, obviously something. to keep an eye out. Uh I know that you. have been covering this again. relentlessly on Democracy Docket. So, I'm going to put that link right here on. the screen and also in the post. description. For those who are looking.

to focus on these attacks against. democracy that are not being covered. adequately by legacy media, Democracy. Docket is going to be your best bet. So. again, if you're not yet subscribed, please go ahead and subscribe. And if. you want to see more episodes of. Democracy Watch, that link to subscribe. is on the screen as well. I'm Brian. Taylor Cohen. >> I'm Mark Elias. >> This is Democracy Watch.