'No evidence': Fox host shreds Trump and Mike Johnson’s 'null and void' voter fraud claims

On Friday, former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) gave a joint press conference at Mar-a-Lago to introduce an initiative aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting. But one Fox News host slammed that policy proposal as a red herring.

Johnson joined Trump for the press conference in the wake of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) threatening to bring a motion to vacate to the floor of the House of Representatives in protest of Johnson's bipartisan efforts to keep the federal government open. Trump made it clear that Johnson had his support, despite Greene saying on Friday that the speaker was "full of sh--" during an interview with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

During the press conference, with Trump scowling behind him, Johnson promised to introduce legislation "to require that every single person who registers to vote in a federal election must prove that they're an American citizen first."

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Of course, as Punchbowl News' John Bresnahan tweeted, US residents who lack citizenship "can’t vote in federal elections [and] haven’t been able to do so for decades." During a Friday segment on Fox News' The Five, panelist Richard Fowler echoed that sentiment, casting doubt on the need for a new law on the books to ban non-citizens from voting.

"This press conference was billed as an 'election integrity' press conference," Fowler said. "In 1996 congress passed the illegal immigration reform and immigration responsibility act. That act makes it explicitly illegal for noncitizens to vote."

"According to The Heritage Foundation's database on voter fraud, there’s been fewer than 50 cases of noncitizens voting in elections since 2002," he continued. "Not only has the Heritage Foundation said this, the Bipartisan Policy Center has said this, the Brennan Center for Justice has said this, the FBI has said this."

"Over and over and over again, people keep saying there's 'voter fraud,' and there's no evidence of voter fraud. There's no evidence of non-citizens voting in federal elections. " Fowler added. "And until they prove that, this press conference to me was null and void."

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Under current law, any non-citizen that tries to vote in a federal election can be charged with a felony, fined heavily and potentially deported. And as Fowler explained, the Brennan Center for Justice debunked the phantom issue of non-citizen voting, breaking down what it would entail in a recent post to its website.

"Imagine you’re an undocumented person living in the United States," wrote the Brennan Center's Sean Morales-Doyle. "Would you risk everything — your freedom, your life in the United States, your ability to be near your family — just to cast a single ballot?"

"It’s a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. It’s also a crime under every state’s laws," he added. "In fact, under federal law, you could face up to five years in prison simply for registering to vote."

Watch the video of Fowler's remarks below, or by clicking this link.

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