Trump bashes immigration at tax cut event

Tossing his “boring” prepared remarks into the air, President Donald Trump on Thursday unleashed a fierce denunciation of the nation’s immigration policies, calling for tougher border security while repeating his unsubstantiated claim that “millions” of people voted illegally in California.

Trump was in West Virginia to showcase the benefits of the Republican tax cuts, but he took a big and meandering detour to talk about his tough immigration and trade plans.

He linked immigration with the rise of violent gangs like MS-13 and suggested anew there had been widespread fraud in the 2016 election.

“In many places, like California, the same person votes many times. You probably heard about that,” Trump said. “They always like to say, ‘Oh, that’s a conspiracy theory.’ Not a conspiracy theory, folks. Millions and millions of people. And it’s very hard because the state guards their records. They don’t want us” to see them.

While there have been isolated cases of voter fraud in the U.S., past studies have found it to be exceptionally rare.

Trump initially claimed last year widespread voting fraud had occurred in what appeared to be a means of explaining away his popular-vote defeat. Earlier this year the White House disbanded a controversial voter fraud commission amid infighting and lawsuits as state officials refused to cooperate.

Evan Vucci / Associated Press President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on tax reform at the White Sulpher Srings Civic Center in White Sulpher Springs, W.Va., on Thursday.