WASHINGTON_President Donald Trump on Thursday revived a long-debunked claim about massive voter fraud in California, telling an audience in West Virginia that "millions and millions of people" had voted illegally in the state.
"In many places, like California, the same person votes many times," Trump said. "You probably heard about that. They always like to say 'oh that's a conspiracy theory.' Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people."
Trump first made that accusation shortly after his election, saying that he only lost the popular vote because of illegal voting in California. After his inauguration, the administration set up a commission to look into voter fraud. It was eventually disbanded and did not come up with any evidence to back Trump's theories.
The president stopped talking about voter fraud in public after taking criticism from Republican elected officials for making unsubstantiated charges about misconduct, not only in California but in other states that he lost, such as New Hampshire. But he never completely stopped raising the issue in private, according to people who have spoken with him.
In recent weeks, he's been more assertive about publicly discussing some of his grievances _ voter fraud being one.
Allegations of voter fraud have been investigated in California. Although some limited cases have been found, no evidence of large-scale fraud has ever surfaced.
