'Oblivious dope': Ex-Trump adviser smacked down for 'making things up' about voting laws

Former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) are advancing legislation at an upcoming news conference at Mar-a-Lago that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections — a development trumpeted by former Trump campaign adviser Steve Cortes on X Thursday.

"It’s sad that we have to propose and fight for legislation to ban illegal aliens from voting," wrote Cortes, who has served as a commentator on right-wing media in the past. "But that’s what happens when Democrats allow millions to illegally cross into our country to try and rig our elections."

There's just one problem with this: it is not legal anywhere in the United States for non-citizens to vote, and there is no push by Democratic officials to make it legal. A handful of large cities with significant immigrant communities have experimented with allowing non-citizens to vote, but only in local elections, on special ballots that don't allow them to vote on any higher offices than that.

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Commenters on social media were swift to mock Cortes' crusade on a nonexistent issue.

"This is purely a stunt. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections," wrote Democratic voting rights attorney and Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias.

"It's already illegal for undocumented immigrants to vote in federal elections," wrote immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. "It's so illegal that it's a felony, a ground of deportation, AND a near-permanent ban to receiving any future immigration benefit."

"Next Republicans are going to introduce legislation to prevent zoo animals from voting," wrote author Steve Tally. "Zoo animals can’t vote either, but that’s not stopping the GOP from making things up."

"I just hope they don’t delay the bill to prevent the moon from crashing into the earth and other things that aren’t happening," wrote author T. J. Stiles.

'You already CANT vote in federal elections if you are not a citizen, you oblivious dope!" wrote the account @DrYardSale.

"Here is a map of all the states where non-citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections," wrote former Obama administration adviser Steven Rattner, posting a map of the United States where not a single state was highlighted.