Trump DHS secretary making fraud claims she can't prove

When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke at a press conference in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 13, she echoed President Donald Trump's claim that the Grand Canyon State is a hotbed of voter fraud. But when a reporter asked her for specific examples, Noem couldn't provide any and remarked, "Oh, I'm sure there's many of them."

In an opinion column published on February 17, MS NOW's Steve Benen emphasizes that MAGA Republicans have a pattern of making voter fraud claims but never offer concrete proof to back them up.

"The point of her trip to Arizona was to advance Republican conspiracy theories related to voting and election administration," Benen explains. "In fact, the South Dakotan insisted, during her trip, that Arizona is 'an absolute disaster' when it comes to elections…. When a reporter asked whether she was aware of any examples of voter fraud actually happening in the state, the secretary pointed to nothing."

Benen continues, "This led to ample pushback from state officials, who explained in detail that the state's system of elections is already secure and that they're already doing what Noem says needs to be done…. When a powerful federal official travels across the country to accuse a state of having a system of elections that's become 'an absolute disaster,' she really only has one job: Prove it. The very least Noem could have done is to offer one example of fraud."

The MS NOW columnist and "Rachel Maddow Show" producer notes that similarly, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) claims that undocumented immigrants are voting in U.S. elections in big numbers but never offers substantial proof to support his claims.

"It's worth emphasizing that after the 2020 election," Benen recalls, "Republicans thought they'd finally come up with a real example of voter fraud: A Nevada man named Donald Kirk Hartle claimed that someone had cast a ballot in the 2020 election on behalf of his late wife, who'd died three years earlier…. Except they were wrong."

Benen adds, "Hartle had lied and ultimately pleaded guilty to having cast the ballot himself. The single best example Republicans could come up with wasn't real. Six years later, Noem is 'sure' there are 'many'” such examples — but she just can't tell you about a single one."

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