The Democratic chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission on Friday challenged President Donald Trump to provide evidence of the voter fraud he insists cost him New Hampshire in 2016 or quit talking about it.
In a letter to Trump, Ellen Weintraub said the country’s democracy depends on “the American people’s faith in our elections. Your voter-fraud allegations run the risk of undermining that faith.”
Weintraub’s missive came a day after Trump complained to reporters — and to his supporters at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire — that he had narrowly lost the Granite State because of fraudulent voting, a claim for which there is no evidence.
“New Hampshire should have been won last time, except we had a lot of people come in at the last moment, which was a rather strange situation,” Trump told journalists. “Thousands and thousands of people, coming in from locations unknown.”
At the rally, he told the crowd that New Hampshire was “taken away from us.”
Trump crushed his Republican rivals in the New Hampshire primary in 2016 but lost the state’s four electoral votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton that November by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Trump campaign officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Weintraub’s letter.
Weintraub said Trump should provide his evidence to the public and the appropriate law enforcement authorities.
“To put in terms a former casino operator should understand,” she wrote, “there comes a time when you need to lay your cards on the table or fold.”