WOW: Reporter goes OFF on Trump in COMBATIVE back and forth

Tell me about mail-in ballots. Go. You mean I used a mail-in ballot and you. probably said, "Yeah, I did." You know. what? Because I'm president of the. United States and because of the fact. that I'm president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections. that took place in Florida because I. felt I should be here instead of being. in the beautiful sunshine taking. >> in Palm Beach, sir, the last few. weekends. >> That's right. And I Yeah. And I I. decided that I was going to vote by. mail-in ballot because I couldn't be. there because I had a lot of different. things. But you know, we have exceptions.

for mail-in ballots. You do know that, right? So, if you're away, you have an. exception. If you're in the military, we. have an exception. If you're on a. business trip, we have an exception. If. you're disabled, we have an exception. And if you're ill, if you're not feeling. good, we have So, I was away mostly in. Washington, D.C., so I used a mail-in. ballot. But I appreciate the question. cuz I know I know it was so. well-meaning. That was Donald Trump. being asked why he uses mail-in ballots. if, as he suggests, they are the peak of. fraud and must be eliminated entirely.

And it's telling that the first words. out of his mouth are these. >> Because I'm president of the United. States. Because I'm president of the. United States. Rules don't apply to me. I get to do whatever I want to do while. the plebs have to play by an entirely. different set of rules. Mail ballots for. me, none for thee. He's also saying the. quiet part out loud here, that mail-in. voting is safe. Certainly safe enough. for him to trust it when he's casting. his own ballots. And by the way, it's. not like he had no choice. What, was the. president of the United States not able.

to hitch a ride down to Florida? Or even. more ridiculous than that, was he not. able to cast his ballot in person when. he was literally already down there? But, as he says, >> You were in Palm Beach, sir, the last. few weekends. >> That's right. And I Yeah. And I I. decided that I was going to vote by. mail-in ballot because I couldn't be. there because I had a lot of different. things. But you know, Oh, he had a lot. of things. Well, I guess that explains. it. And look, I feel for him. Those. rounds of golf aren't going to play. themselves. The reality is that Trump.

knows full well that mail-in voting is. safe. That's why he does it. He also. knows that his own claims of voter fraud. are a lie, which is why he just says it. and yet never offers a modicum of proof. to back up his own claims. And you know. why that is? Because there has never. been a study conducted showing that. widespread voter fraud or ballot fraud. exists in this country. None. But there. have been plenty that disprove Trump's. thesis. For example, according to Justin. Levitt, who also authored the truth. about voter fraud and is now a professor. at Loyola Law School, and who reviewed.

allegations of fraud dating back to. 2000, he identified 31 credible. instances of impersonation fraud from. 2000 to 2014 out of more than a billion. ballots cast over that period. 31. instances of fraud out of more than a. billion ballots cast spanning 14 years. Here's another one. Utah Republicans. conducted a months-long review of their. voter rolls examining over 2 million. voter registrations so that they could. find evidence of undocumented immigrants. voting in their elections. They.

discovered that there was one. non-citizen registered to vote, and that. person never even voted. So, when Trump. and Republicans rail against voter. fraud, they are solving a problem that. doesn't exist. So, why do it? Why die on. this hill? Because again, they're using. voter fraud as a vehicle to suppress. votes, as a pretext to suppress votes. It's the same reason Trump is trying to. pass the Save America Act, even if it. means nuking the filibuster to do so. The GOP is trying to frame it as just a. simple voter ID bill. It is not. For one.

thing, it includes a provision that. forces states to hand over their voter. rolls to the federal government. They. would They would decide who stays. registered and who gets flagged for. removal. It could also block millions of. eligible voters from voting because the. bill requires most Americans to hand. over a passport or a birth certificate. in person to register to vote or update. their registration, which are documents. that 21 million American citizens don't. have readily available. And without. them, they could be blocked from. registering to vote. Think about who. that disproportionately impacts.

Low-income voters who don't have those. documents, minority voters who don't. have those documents, and seniors who. don't have those documents, all of whom. tend to vote Democratic. Surprise, surprise. Consider who's also. responsible for renewing passports. That's right, the federal government. In. other words, Trump would be responsible. for allocating the very document that. you need in order to cast a ballot. And. finally, it's worth noting that those. documents, passports and copies of birth. certificates, are not free in this. country. Meaning you'll have to pay as. much as 200 bucks for a document to be.

able to cast a ballot. It's almost like. a poll tax, but that couldn't possibly. be the case because that would mean that. conservatives are still employing the. same suppression tactics for a century. and a half. And I know that couldn't. possibly be that shitty. And not for nothing, but look at all the. energy being expended right now trying. to pass a voter suppression bill. I. mean, hell, Trump won't even fund TSA. Won't even relax those long lines at. airports because he so wants to leverage. those long lines to try and get that. voter suppression bill passed, something. he admitted.

>> We want to settle. We want to settle. And I told the people don't settle. Don't settle because we have something. bigger. Only settle if you get the Save. America Act, voter ID, and so important, proof of citizenship, etc. Thank you. very much. Whose idea was that? When I. said the airport. Uh we're dealing really. Mine. That was mine. And I'm suggesting strongly to the. Republican Party, don't make any deal on. anything. The most important thing we.

can have is what's called the Save. America Act. Don't make any deal on anything unless. you include. voter ID. and you have to be a citizen to vote. You have to show citizenship to vote. Very easy to do. It's It's insulting when they say people. can't do it because they don't know how. to do it. Anybody that can't do it, I think it's a. very insulting thing to say. The Democrats are fully to blame with. the struggle of the great. American public is going through at the.

airports. They're going through a big. struggle right now, and we just put ICE. in charge. >> Now, just imagine for a moment if all. that energy being spent on trying to. pass a voter suppression bill was spent. on actually governing in such a way that. you don't need to suppress the votes. Just imagine if it was spent trying to. lower healthcare costs, or make sure. people aren't going hungry, or solving. the massive disparity in income. inequality, or making groceries more. affordable, or housing more plentiful, or fixing our crumbling infrastructure,

or funding education. But Republicans. don't do any of those things. Instead, they just give themselves a tax cut, feed the insatiable military-industrial. complex, cover for some pedophiles, and. call it a day. And in order to keep. Americans from voicing their. dissatisfaction with those things, they're just spending what little energy. they have left keeping you from the. polls. Trump promised to look out for. the little guy. Instead, he has ensured. that the little guy has no voice left. whatsoever. The truth is that Donald Trump knows. mail-in voting is safe, reliable, and.

accurate. That's why he uses it. But his. goal isn't honesty. It's not fairness, and it's not democracy. It is about. entrenching his own party's power. forever via any means necessary. This is. what the death of democracy looks like, which means that we have a mandate, an. obligation to push back. Republicans are. trying to take your voice away for one. reason, because they know it has an. impact. Prove it to them just a few. months from now. Before you go, I'm very excited to. announce that I've written a new book.

titled The Day After: How to wield power. in a post-Trump world. The book explores. what is, in my opinion, the single most. important theme that we're dealing with. in politics today and moving forward: power. Specifically, how Republicans. abuse it and how Democrats refuse to. wield it. This book explains how we got. here and more importantly, how we should. finally wield power if we're lucky. enough to get it back. It is the. blueprint for progressives who want to. do far more than just restore the status. quo. Please pre-order today by following. the link on this screen. You can grab. yours from any of the major retailers.

like Amazon and Barnes & Noble or scroll. down on the page and get a copy from an. independent bookstore closest to you. Thanks so much for supporting. independent media.