Chris Murphy calls Trump 'biggest threat' to America: 'SAVE Act a pretext to challenge elections'

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Chris Murphy argued on Sunday that President Donald Trump is "the biggest threat" to America, accusing him of using the SAVE Act to lay the groundwork for disputing future election results.

The Connecticut Democrat made the remarks during NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ after facing questions about divisions within the Democratic Party. He insisted Democrats remain united in opposing Trump. He also argued that the debate over the SAVE Act carries far bigger stakes than voter identification requirements.

Chris Murphy calls Trump the biggest threat

Murphy rejected the idea that Democratic infighting posed the country's biggest political challenge after host Ryan Nobles asked about a campaign ad from Rep Adriano Espaillat targeting

Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, who defeated an establishment-backed candidate in New York's 13th Congressional District.

"Right now, the biggest threat to this country is not a handful of House candidates in New York," Murphy said. "It is the president of the United States that is trying to destroy American democracy, and the Democratic Party, left, right, and center, is united around the fact that we need to protect this nation from Donald Trump's attacks on the rule of law."

Murphy also acknowledged frustration with both major parties but argued Democrats remain aligned on confronting Trump.

"Listen, it's no secret, voters aren't super happy with establishment Democrats or establishment Republicans these days," he said. "I will say, though, what binds together, I think, every Democratic candidate who is running, including those in New York, is that they are standing up to protect American democracy."

Connecticut Democrat targets Trump's SAVE Act push

The discussion later shifted to Trump's push for Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act, which would require proof of US citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

Asked whether he could support the proposal, Murphy replied that Connecticut already has "safe and secure elections" and argued the legislation was built on a false premise.

"This whole idea behind the SAVE Act is trying to push a mythology that our elections aren't secure, are rigged. That's not true," Murphy said. "The problem with the SAVE Act is that they don't really care about the voter ID provision."

When Nobles questioned whether requiring photo identification to vote should be necessary, Murphy argued that voter impersonation is not a widespread issue.

Murphy says SAVE Act creates election pretext

Murphy repeatedly argued that the legislation serves a different purpose than election security.

"That's not why they're pushing the SAVE Act," he said.

He later added, "There's no evidence, zero evidence in this country, that there is a problem at scale with people faking their identification in elections."

Murphy concluded by accusing Trump and his allies of pursuing a broader political objective.

"And again, let's just dispense with the idea that that's what this bill is about. That's not what this bill is about," Murphy said.

"This bill is about trying to create a national voter list that creates the pretext for Donald Trump to try to say that state elections have been rigged or manipulated," he said.