PANTS ON FIRE: Trump’s latest California voter fraud claim as baseless as past allegations

.politifac

In his recent interview on "Meet the Press", President Donald Trump claimed there’s proof to support his repeatedly debunkedclaim that "serious voter fraud" took place in California during the 2016 presidential election. 

Trump alleged California "admitted" there were "a million" illegal votes in the 2016 presidential election. 

"Take a look at Judicial Watch. Take a look at their settlement. California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes," Trump told Chuck Todd, the show’s host, in an interview that aired June 23, 2019. 

Election officials and fact checkers have previously called out Trump’s baseless claims on the subject. In November 2016, PolitiFact National rated Pants on Fire his contention that he lost the popular vote because "millions of people voted illegally." PolitiFact California handed out the same rating for his claim of "serious voter fraud" in California.

Hillary Clinton won the state by more than 4 million votes and she won the national popular vote by about 2.8 million. Trump won the decisive Electoral College tally. 

We wanted to know the veracity of Trump’s new claim. So, we examined the settlement that he said is evidence of massive voter fraud in California.

Here’s the exchange between Trump and Chuck Todd: 

Todd: "You didn't like the fact that you lost the popular vote. That bothered you, didn't it?"

Trump: "Well, I think it was a -- I mean, I'll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don't believe. I look at California."

Todd: "Mr. President." 

Trump: "Excuse me."

Todd: "But that’s a …" 

Trump: "Take a look at Judicial Watch. Take a look at their settlement. California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes." 

Our ruling

President Trump recently claimed California "admitted" there were "a million" illegal votes in the 2016 presidential election, in an effort to support his widely debunked claim of massive voter fraud in the state. 

Trump cited a January settlement between the state and Judicial Watch. 

But that agreement says nothing about voter fraud or illegal voting. Instead, it requires Los Angeles County election officials to begin the process of removing inactive registrations, for people who have gone years without voting often because they’ve moved or died, to comply with federal law. 

It says all parties agreed there was no admission of liability or wrongdoing by the state or county.

State and county elections officials strongly rejected the president's statement.

We found Trump's new voter fraud claim as baseless as his past allegations.

We rate it Pants on Fire. 

---

PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim.