MAGA Resurrects Most Vile Non-Citizen Voting Hysteria As It Flails In Attacking Harris

As Donald Trump and his allies struggle to hit presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris with anything of substance, MAGA world is resurrecting its fixation on the myth of non-citizen voting. 

The Republican manufactured crisis — that hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants are voting in federal elections as some sort of “deep state” Democratic scheme to cheat their way into winning — has become a catchall for the laundry list of grievances Republicans are spewing during a politically chaotic moment. 

Republicans, thirsting for a way to criticize Harris for the Biden administration’s border policies, are claiming the vice president has not done enough to tamp down on illegal border crossings, while simultaneously elevating the myth of non-citizen voting and so-called election integrity issues. As TPM has reported, Trump and his allies in Congress began fear mongering around non-citizen voting earlier this year, setting themselves up to cry voter fraud if things don’t go well for Trump in the fall. 

And although Republicans making unfounded claims about non-citizens voting in elections is not new, the myths were, as David Levine, election integrity consultant, explained to TPM, “turbocharged when former President Trump made it a centerpiece of why he thinks that US elections are rigged.”

“It sows doubt about the integrity of the election,” he said, “it connects to issues that we’ve seen a lot of rhetoric around not only in election integrity, but immigration.”

The consistent effort to push this narrative is merely a way to inject fear and chaos into the election system, as TPM has reported. It’s illegal for non-citizens to vote in elections, and there is simply no evidence to suggest that this is something that happens. And, now, as we get closer to the election, the narrative is likely to get even more extreme. 

“The vice president is someone who has immigrant parents, someone who is a person of color,” added Levine, “so it wouldn’t be surprising to try and see perhaps additional links between her candidacy and non-citizen voting.” 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee on X this month has been promoting what they call the “Democratic election Scheme,” claiming without evidence that “Democrats are calling for new elections laws to ALLOW illegals to vote in our elections.”

And on Monday, Chip Roy (R-Texas), similarly posted on X: “If you fix Dem candidates and primaries, and allow non citizens to vote… that is not “Democracy” at all.”

“That is a charade for tyrants and unelected statists in DC to gain power,” he claimed, elevating a talking point that is gaining traction in far-right, extremist conspiracy theory circles online.

And Elon Musk took to X on Monday to perpetuate the same conspiracy theories, claiming that the “Biden-Harris Administration is importing vast numbers of voters.”

These statements and efforts from right-wingers mirror a larger initiative that Republicans are promoting at both the state and federal level. 

Republican state lawmakers have consistently clung to this debunked narrative since the 2020 election, per data from Voting Rights Lab. Nine states have successfully enacted laws preventing non citizens from voting, while similar legislation is currently active in sixteen states. And at the national level, Trump, the RNC, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other Republican representatives are trying to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which is a redundant piece of legislation, primarily a messaging tool, that would make it illegal for non citizens to vote in federal elections.

“I think that there’s a possibility that it has the ability to distract or detract folks from dealing with other more important, more salient issues,” said Levine. “It’ll be interesting to see whether this issue becomes more turbocharged.”