'What information?' CNN host cuts in as Lara Trump tries to backtrack Trump claim
Lara Trump, daughter-in-law to the Republican Party's presidential candidate and co-chair of its national committee, received a fact check on CNN Tuesday morning when she tried to backtrack misleading Truth Social messaging from her father-in-law.
Anchor Kasie Hunt demanded the Republican National Committee leader explain what exactly former President Donald Trump meant when he wrote Sunday that "20% of the Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent" — a claim he cited to an undated interview with an unnamed expert.
"Donald Trump," Lara Trump replied, "wants every voter no matter if you're voting Republican, Democrat or third-party candidate to feel comfortable ..."
"So," Hunt cut in, speaking over her guest, "why is he saying that 20 percent of them are fraudulent?"
This is a near-direct quote of Trump's messaging on his social media site, where he demanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation look into claims that Democrats were rigging votes.
"An interview by Tucker Carlson of an election expert indicates that 20% of the Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. "We will WIN Pennsylvania by a lot, unless the Dems are allowed to CHEAT. THE RNC MUST ACTIVATE, NOW!!!"
Trump appears to be referencing an interview Carlson, the former Fox News personality fired after the network settled an $787 million lawsuit over election fraud claims, held in April with Justin Haskins of the right-wing think tank Heartland Institute.
The study Haskins referenced was debunked by the Washington Post in December, when analyst Philip Bump explained a problem with conservative pollster Ramussen's survey of roughly 1,000 voters upon which it relied.
"This instantly fails the smell test," wrote Bump. "A fifth of voters said they voted in a state where they no longer live? About 6 in 10 Americans have never moved out of the states in which they were born. Half of the rest, we are meant to believe, committed an obvious form of election fraud three years ago."
On Tuesday, Lara Trump tried to pivot away from Trump's misleading messaging to her own political talking points.
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"He's specifically referencing information from the 2020 election," Lara Trump said. "What we're talking about right now is making sure that every vote matters and every vote counts, and I've worked very hard—"
Hunt wasn't having it.
"What information do we have?" Hunt asked. "What evidence is there that 20 percent of the mail-in ballots were fraudulent?"
"I didn't see that report," Lara Trump said. "So I'd have to go back and look at it."
Watch the full interview below or click here.
