President Trump made the case Monday that passing the SAVE America Act will save Republicans in the fall midterm elections, while slamming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s opposition to the voter ID bill.
“What a horrible politician,” Trump said of Schumer (D-NY), who has vowed Senate Democrats will never support the bill requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote and provide photo identification before casting a ballot.
“He is now a Palestinian. Officially, he is registered as a Palestinian,” the president joked at a House Republican retreat in Miami.
The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act cleared the lower chamber last month, with every Republican and one Democrat voting in support.
Trump praised House Republicans for passing the “common sense measure,” describing it as “the easiest thing we have” because of polls showing Americans overwhelmingly support voter ID laws.
“This is not complicated: voter identification,” the president said.
However, the Save America Act faces a difficult challenge in the Senate, where it will need 60 votes to pass and the GOP only controls 53 seats.
Trump suggested Democrats, like Schumer, are against the bill because they won’t be able to win elections with voter ID laws in place.
“They’re doing everything possible because they know if we get this, they probably won’t win an election for 50 years,” the president argued. “Maybe longer.”
Democrats are going to “fight like hell,” opposing the SAVE America Act, Trump noted, “but boy, do they get killed.”
The president said he’s seen polling showing 86% of Democrats support voter ID laws.
“Democrats are at 86%, except for the people that run the Democrat Party, because they want to try and win elections illegally,” he claimed. “It’s the only reason you vote against voter ID – because you want to cheat.”
Trump feels so strongly about passing the SAVE America Act that he vowed Sunday to “not sign other Bills until this is passed.”
At a press conference Monday, the president dodged answering whether he would refuse to sign legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security or installing Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as DHS secretary if the SAVE America Act is not passed.
Schumer has referred to the bill as “Jim Crow 2.0,” arguing that It would “disenfranchise tens of millions of people.”
“If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate,” he warned. “Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances.”
