US Elections: Donald Trump Encourages North Carolina Voters To Vote Twice

US President Donald Trump suggested during a trip to North Carolina that people should commit voter fraud to test whether the voting-by-mail system works.

Trump’s comments to a local journalist at an airport stop in Wilmington were videotaped after the reporter informed the president that 600,000 voters in North Carolina could vote absentee.

“I don’t like that,” Trump told the crowd gathered on the airport runway.

“So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system is as good as they say, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it’s not tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. That’s how it is. And that’s what they should do,” he suggested Trump to a crowd gathered at the Wilmington, North Carolina airport, where he had traveled to pay tribute to the city’s history during World War II.

It is illegal to vote more than once in an election.

Trump’s latest comments continue a trend of the president trying to sow confusion over the U.S. vote-by-mail process.

Democrats have been pushing for more vote-by-mail options due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have sued states that have moved to expand access to voting by mail in response to the pandemic, including Nevada, New Jersey and Montana.

“President Trump encourages his supporters to vote absentee by mail early and then appear in person at the polls or to the local registrar to verify that their vote has already been counted,” said Trump campaign official Tim Murtaugh.

“It is amazing that the media can go from insisting that voter fraud does not exist to screaming when President Trump points out the giant holes in the Democrats’ voting schemes.”

North Carolina is a key state that helped Trump win the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.