Trump falls back on false claim that non-citizen voting threatened his popular vote, despite data proving that it’s a lie

Donald Trump and Mike Johnson are pushing for federal legislation to ban non-citizen voting, which could end up disenfranchising eligible citizens. The effort also underscores how Trump and allies are already seeding doubts about this fall’s election.

It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. But new legislation backed by Johnson would amend federal law to require all voters to show documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote. Currently, Americans who register to vote with a federal voter registration form are required to affirm they are a citizen and risk prosecution if they lie.

“We all know – intuitively – that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it’s not been something that is easily provable,” Johnson said on the steps of the US capitol on 8 May. He was joined by Cleta Mitchell, an ally of Trump who sought to overturn the 2020 election, and Stephen Miller, a top Trump adviser who has been behind some of Trump’s most anti-immigrant policies.