Donald Trump has been President of the United States for less than a week, but what a week it has been.
His administration straight-up lied to the media over the size of his inauguration crowd, he introduced the world to his highly-memeable press secretary Sean Spicer, signed executive orders to trample over women’s rights and start building the wall along the US-Mexico border, as well as seeing George Orwell’s 1984 reach the top of the Amazon charts.
But there’s one issue that has been a real stickler for the new POTUS, and it’s to do with the election… despite the fact that he won.
I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
President Trump believes he would have won the popular vote in November’s election were it not for all the ‘illegal votes’ cast, despite there being no evidence to support that claim.
On Monday he shared a bizarre anecdote with house and senate leaders involving two-time Masters champion Bernard Langer and a queue of ‘illegal voters’ in Florida.
Three people present for President Trump’s story recounted it to the New York Times:
“The witnesses described the story this way: Mr. Langer, a 59-year-old native of Bavaria, Germany — a winner of the Masters twice and of more than 100 events on major professional golf tours around the world — was standing in line at a polling place near his home in Florida on Election Day, the president explained, when an official informed Mr. Langer he would not be able to vote.
“Ahead of and behind Mr. Langer were voters who did not look as if they should be allowed to vote, Mr. Trump said, according to the staff members — but they were nonetheless permitted to cast provisional ballots. The president threw out the names of Latin American countries that the voters might have come from.
“Mr. Langer, whom he described as a supporter, left feeling frustrated, according to a version of events later contradicted by a White House official.
“The anecdote, the aides said, was greeted with silence, and Mr. Trump was prodded to change the subject by Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, and Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas.”
Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
The only problem with this tale? Aside from the racial profiling and the fact that the President of the United States is launching investigations based on hearsay, that is. According to Langer’s daughter, the golfer has no idea what Trump is talking about.
A German citizen who resides in Florida, the legendary golfer is not eligible to vote in US elections and, according to his daughter, has never tried.
“He is a citizen of Germany,” Langer’s daughter told the New York Times. “He is not a friend of President Trump’s, and I don’t know why he would talk about him.”
Subsequently, a White House official told the Times that Langer – who Trump describes as a supporter – was recounting a story of a friend when they met over Thanksgiving, not sharing his own personal experience of voting in America, which he is unable to do anyway.
And people say facts are overrated.
