In an attempt to provide more red meat for his base of anti-immigrant supporters, President Trump used a grocery shopping analogy to plead his case for voter ID law reform. At a rally in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday he said: “You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID.”
While attempting to make a case for requiring voters to show picture identification at polls, Trump, who has long alleged without evidence that a large number of votes were illegally cast in the 2016 presidential election, said that basically all retail transactions required picture ID.
He also claimed Democrats were trying to give undocumented immigrants the right to vote. Despite Trump’s allegations, there has been no evidence, which demonstrates noncitizen voting is a widespread problem.
“Only American citizens should vote in American elections. The time has come for voter ID like everything else,” Trump said.
Twitter users responded to Trump’s claim about grocery shopping:
Although tobacco, firearms or explosives don’t meet the typical definition of groceries, their purchase (which are sometimes available in grocery stores) prompt an ID check if the shopper appears visibly below certain broad age thresholds. For example, a shopper who appears under 27-years old may have to show an ID to buy cigarettes.
After being questioned about Trump’s comments, on Wednesday afternoon, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said he was referring to buying liquor. All states prohibit providing alcohol to persons under 21. But the legal age for voting is 18.
