The White House has sought to walk back President Donald Trump's appeal to Republicans to "nationalise" US elections in the run-up to November's midterms.
"What the president was referring to is the SAVE Act, which is a huge common sense piece of legislation that Republicans have supported, that President Trump is committed to signing into law during his term, and he spoke with the speaker directly about that yesterday, about the need to get that bill on the floor for a vote," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
The SAVE Act would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in a federal election. But that is markedly different than what the president called for Monday.
Trump said during an interview with a right-wing podcaster, who previously served as one of his senior FBI officials, that Republicans "should say, 'We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least, many, 15 places.' The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting today."
The appeal sparked backlash from Democrats, and some Republicans, including Sen. John Thune, who said he is "not in favor of federalising elections, no. I think that’s a constitutional issue."
"I’m a big believer in decentralised and distributed power. And I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one. In my view, at least, that’s always a system that has worked pretty well," Thune told reporters.
The US Constitution grants state legislatures the authority to determine the "times, places, and manner" of elections.
"The president believes in the United States Constitution. However, he believes there has obviously been a lot of fraud and irregularities that have taken place in American elections," said Leavitt.
The appeal to "nationalise" the polls comes 10 months ahead of the midterm elections.
The party of the incumbent president typically loses seats in Congress during midterms, and Trump has long bemoaned that fact. He reportedly told Republicans last month behind closed doors that if Democrats are successful in gaining a House majority, "I’ll get impeached."
The president was twice impeached (by the House) during his first term.
