Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele schools Trump on the fact that absentee voting and voting by mail ‘are the same thing’

President Donald Trump has been railing nonstop against mail-in voting, claiming that it is a major recipe for voter fraud — although he often adds that absentee voting is OK because it’s something different. But when Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on July 31, he stressed that Trump is talking nonsense because mail-in voting and absentee voting are the same thing.

Steele told “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, “Mail-in balloting, mail-in voting is legitimate. It is done in at least five states. Every state has some form of it. You know it as absentee balloting. Yesterday, the president was like, ‘I love absentee balloting, but this vote by mail thing’ — Mr. President, they're the same thing, OK? Just so you understand, an absentee ballot is the same as a mail-in ballot."

Trump came under fire on July 30 for posting a tweet in which he floated the possibility of delaying the presidential election in order to avoid voter fraud. But Steele, like other Never Trump conservatives, has vehemently rejected Trump’s suggestion.

The former RNC chairman stressed, “Just so we’re clear, America: absentee ballot, vote by mail — same thing.”