CNN’s Bash Confronts Jeffries on Illegal Voters: ‘It Happened,’ Is it a Problem?

CNN’s Dana Bash questioned House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on whether non-citizen voting is a “problem” in the U.S., one week after New Jersey reported thousands of illegal voters were registered and about 400 non-citizens had voted.

Bash asked Jeffries if it was a concern or a one-off issue during a Sunday interview on State of the Union; she also gave a pretty strong hint about how she feels about the matter by downplaying the number of illegal voters and saying there is no proof it altered elections.

“Your next door neighbor New Jersey, just disclosed that 6,600 non-citizens were mistakenly registered to vote there from 2023 to 2024; 400 of them actually voted in elections since then,” Bash said. “It is a small number compared to the 7 million voters in New Jersey, and there is no evidence that that swayed any election.”

She continued, “But this is one of the most significant disclosures of non-citizen registration. Democrats have repeatedly said that non-citizen voting doesn’t happen. It happened. is this a problem?”

“I think that I continue to have confidence in state and local authorities in making sure that there’s going to be a free and fair election in November,” Jeffries said. “and if modest or minor challenges emerge, such as the one that was disclosed voluntarily by the authorities in New Jersey that it is immediately corrected. And that’s what I expect will continue to happen.”

Jeffries did not mention New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) disclosed the illegal voters a few days after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said a probe found 250,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in four states, including New Jersey. Mullin sent a letter to representatives for the states — which also included California, Nevada, and Pennsylvania — demanding they rectify the issue; he said officials who do not boot illegal voters could face fines or even “prison time.”

The liberal lawmaker then pivoted to bashing President Donald Trump.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve seen from Donald Trump is that in this particular case, Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy, because they have failed to actually deliver on making life more affordable for the American people,” Jeffries said. “It was Donald Trump who promised to lower costs on day one. But we know that costs haven’t gone down in this country. Costs have gone up.”

Trump has pushed Republican lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act — which would require ID to vote in federal elections — for months. Jeffries has slammed the proposed legislation, saying it is nothing more than “voter suppression.” 

Jeffries continued his answer to Bash by ripping Trump for the Iran war.

Watch above.

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