Trump blasts federal judicial decision on Virginia election rolls

Former President Trump on Friday blasted a federal judge’s ruling that Virginia must restore more than 1,500 people to the state’s voter rolls, falsely claiming Vice President Harris was behind the decision and that it amounted to “election interference.”

Trump opened remarks in Austin, Texas, by railing against the decision, which was announced earlier in the day. Virginia’s GOP governor has already appealed the decision and has argued the individuals in question are self-identified non-citizens.

“The outrageous decision goes against the very bedrock of our democracy and thankfully Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who’s doing a terrific job, is working very hard to fix this problem,” the former president said, calling the judge involved “radical.”

“This is blatantly un-American, and it’s election interference, and Kamala Harris is behind it very much. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention,” he continued. “You have to get the confidence going for elections. When you have decisions coming out like that…it’s pretty sad for our country. We have enough problems with the elections. It’s about confidence.”

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles, a Biden appointee, granted the Justice Department’s request for a ruling ordering Virginia to restore the registrations in question at the conclusion of a hearing that began Thursday.

Republicans have put claims of noncitizen voting front and center this election cycle, but available data indicates it is a rare occurrence. Noncitizens also face steep penalties for illegally casting a ballot.

Virginia is not expected to be closely contested at the presidential level on Election Day. A Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average of polls show Harris with a 6 percentage point lead over Trump in the commonwealth, and neither candidate has spent time campaigning there in recent weeks.

Trump’s comments come as he and some of his allies have made baseless claims that Democrats are bringing migrants into the country illegally and registering them to the voter rolls for an advantage in the upcoming election.

The former president has still refused to acknowledge his defeat in the 2020 election, and critics have expressed concern he is laying the groundwork to cast doubt on a potential 2024 loss. Trump has said he would accept the results if they are “honest.”

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