A discussion on CNN about President Obama’s condemnation of Donald Trump’s claims that the 2016 election is “rigged” against him quickly devolved into a chaotic shouting match on Tuesday when Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn accused the president of “rigging” his own election in 2008. Epshteyn, who worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential bid, baselessly told host Jake Tapper, “There is voter fraud in Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Carolina, all over this country,” before throwing out this claim: “Barack Obama may have won in 2008 in North Carolina due to illegal voting.” It’s a theory that Trump himself threw out during a rally in Green Bay, Wisc., on Monday, saying it’s “possible” that illegal votes from undocumented immigrants “could have provided the margin of victory” for Obama in that state.
While Epshteyn claimed to be citing as proof a Washington Post story that came out “a few days ago,” it appears he was referring to a 2014 article that has since been debunked as biased and lacking sufficient evidence, but was revived and promoted this week by Breitbart News and other right-wing websites as a defense of Trump’s claims. “I am sure there is voter fraud, and I am sure that people who should not have voted voted,” Tapper replied, “but you are suggesting, stunningly, that the only reason President Obama won North Carolina in 2008 is because of corruption in the electoral process and it's an astounding charge that I have never heard before you said it.”
