Donald Trump tells North Carolina voters to vote TWICE by mail and in person to test the mail-in system as he ramps up attacks on postal ballots
President Donald Trump floated an idea to supporters Wednesday that they vote twice - once by mail and once by person - to see if mail-in balloting is working.
'So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system's as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't tabulated, they'll be able to vote,' Trump suggested to a crowd gathered at the airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he had traveled to pay tribute to the city's World War II history.
It would be considered voter fraud for people to knowingly vote twice in an election.
President Trump spent significant time greeting a crowd of hundreds at the Wilmington airport, going up and down the line and addressing them twice, floating that they should vote once by mail and once in person
President Trump spoke to a crowd of supporters on the tarmac in Wilmington, North Carolina, saying he expected to again win the state and South Carolina, Georgia and New Hampshire while he believed Michigan and also Minnesota were in reach
Trump's comments were the latest the president has made to sow confusion about the mail-in voting process, something he previously confessed could give Democrats an edge.
Democrats have been pushing for more mail-in voting options due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Trump arrived in Wilmington Wednesday and twice talked to hundreds of supporters who had awaited his arrival.
They packed in behind metal fences and very few wore masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Trump called the election the most important ever.
'Because we're running against people that have some big issues, 'he said. 'They've got some big, big problems. They're stone-cold crazy. As you know Joe Biden, he doesn't have a clue, we can't let it happen to our country,' the president said.
Out of earshot from the White House pool, Trump engaged with a local journalist who had informed him that 600,000 voters in North Carolina could vote absentee.
'I don't like that,' Trump said, according to NBC News.
'If it's as good as they say it is then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't tabulated, they'll be able to vote. So that's the way it is. And that's what they should do,' Trump also told the crowd.
North Carolina is a key swing state that helped Trump win the White House over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
He predicted to the crowd that it would happen again.
So we're going to win North Carolina, we're going to win South Carolina, we're going to win Georgia, we're going to win New Hampshire,' Trump said.
He won all the southern states in 2016, but came up short in New Hampshire despite winning there in the GOP primary.
'We just got a great poll from Michigan,' Trump added.
Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, were the three states that Trump surprisingly won to win the White House.
'Minnesota looks like it's really good, it hasn't been won since 1972 by a Republican,' the president added.
Minnesota remained blue in the last election but has become a target for the Trump campaign especially in light of the unrest in Minneapolis following the Memorial Day death of George Floyd.
Trump has been campaigning hard against the riots caused when 'Black Lives Matter' protests have gotten out of control, basing his 2020 campaign around the theme of 'law and order.'
