'They’re just lies' Joe Walsh slams Trump’s claims of election fraud

President Donald Trump has turned up the heat on the U.S. Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, a piece of legislation that would require people to provide ID and proof of citizenship to vote. Despite his push, the bill has failed to gain support in the Senate, as even GOP leaders have failed to justify it. Recently, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall failed to cite examples of election fraud on NBC News’s "Meet the Press", which sparked criticism with former Republican Joe Walsh claiming the legislation was unnecessary and Trump was spreading lies to push his agenda. 

NBC News’s Ryan Nobles filled in for host Kristen Welker on Sunday’s "Meet the Press" to speak to Marshall about a range of topics, including the SAVE America Act. The host argued that Federal law already prohibits non-citizens from voting, and no evidence of fraud changed the outcomes of any elections. "Are you trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist?” he asked, causing the Republican Senator to nearly blank out for a second. “The issue right now is, again, that Americans don’t feel that the elections are trustworthy. No one wants their vote canceled by an illegal alien or by a dead person. And all you have to do is look at the recent elections in Los Angeles to see the concern there as well. People want election integrity,” Marshall repeated, adding that if there is no widespread fraud, then why are Democrats not supporting the legislation? 

However, Walsh on X countered that the GOP can't give any evidence of fraud, and Trump's claims were just lies. "Trump’s 'stolen' & “rigged elections lies are just that…LIES," he wrote, sharing the clip of Marshall's interview. "I come from the right, and my former colleagues on the right know we have the best & most secure elections in the world. But they can’t say that. Because Trump has convinced the base that fraud is rampant. And my former colleagues are afraid of the base. So they echo Trump," added.  

The comments come days after Trump sent shockwaves through Washington after he canceled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill that would have addressed home affordability, saying he would not sign the legislation unless the SAVE America Act is passed. He has advocated for the legislation and even pushed for the Senate to abolish the filibuster in an effort to pass it. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has so far resisted bringing it up to a vote and opposed the calls to end the filibuster. 

The legislation has been largely contentious, as some of the provisions would require Americans to prove they are U.S. citizens when they register to vote and establish a process for people who have changed their names to submit additional documents to verify identity. Furthermore, the version Trump is pushing for would also significantly curtail mail-in voting, a process the president claims is largely fraudulent. 

However, according to research published by the Brookings Institution in November, cases of mail-in voting fraud account for merely 0.000043% of all ballots cast by mail, or about four out of every 10 million. Furthermore, the provision for those who changed their names will cause problems for millions of individuals who changed their names after marriage, as according to the Brennan Center for Justice, an estimated 21 million Americans do not have documents proving their citizenship readily available, and Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement says 2.6 million lack any form of government-issued photo ID. While the bill is unpopular among lawmakers, Voter ID is a popular idea with Americans. A Pew Research Center poll from last year found 83% of respondents in favor of requiring all voters to show government-issued photo ID.