Trump Issues Vague Response to Proposed Plot to Disrupt Midterm Elections

0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. President Donald Trump gave a somewhat vague answer Tuesday when asked whether he and his team planned to declare a national emergency ahead of the midterm elections in an effort to boost his voting proposals.

The president was speaking to Wayne Allyn Root on Real America's Voice, with the host asking about plans for voter ID and limits to mail-in ballots laid out in the SAVE America Act, which the U.S. Senate has yet to pass—something which has frustrated Trump.

"Stranger things have happened," Trump said when asked about the power he has to declare a national emergency. "I'll leave it at that."

Trump and other members of his administration have repeatedly said that voter ID and other measures included in the bill are necessary to ensure the integrity of elections , with the president also saying he believes Republicans need the measures in order to win.

Critics of the legislation say it would prevent thousands of Americans from voting because they do not possess the forms of identification that would be needed, including passports. Concerns have also been raised that a national emergency around elections could lead to results being challenged or overturned.

Reacting to Trump's comments, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X, "Donald Trump wants to take over American elections. Senate Democrats are prepared to combat his unprecedented, illegal efforts at every turn. Your vote belongs to you. We will ensure it stays that way."

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email Tuesday afternoon.

The U.S. Constitution assigns primary responsibility for election administration to states, with Congress holding significant authority over federal election rules.

A strong consensus among election-law experts has been that a national emergency would not automatically allow the president the power to rewrite state election laws, postpone elections, ban mail voting, or impose new voter qualifications unilaterally.

There have been multiple reports of a draft executive order in which the president would invoke foreign election interference as justification for emergency measures, though even supporters of the concept have acknowledged the Constitution gives states and legislatures control over elections.

Critics have argued any attempt to impose nationwide voting rules through emergency powers would face immediate court challenges.

Jeffrey Toobin, chief legal analyst for CNN , spoke to Newsweek 's The 1600 podcast about the ways in which Trump could intervene in the midterms. He told host Carlo Versano that the president's efforts to curb mail-in voting could hurt Republicans just as much as, or worse than, Democrats.

"To this day, it's unclear which party is helped by mail-in voting," Toobin said. "Going back a decade or two, it was Republicans who all wanted mail-in voting, and some people still think Republicans benefit more by mail-in voting. So some of this stuff is not only pernicious, it is just mysterious."

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Geoffrey Rowland

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