Barr warns Democrats 'playing with fire' over 'grossly irresponsible' mail-in voting push

close

Video

AG Barr on mail-in voting: 'Reckless and wrong' to conduct elections by mail-in ballots

AG Bill Barr comments on mail-in voting saying its 'grossly irresponsible' to do what the Democratic party is doing

The "reckless" push by Democrats to expand mail-in voting could raise "serious questions about the integrity of the election," Attorney General William Barr told "Hannity" in an exclusive interview Thursday.

"I think it is grossly irresponsible to be doing what the Democratic Party is doing now," Barr said. "We've had very close races in recent history, the country is divided. If anything, we should be assuring the integrity of our elections so that government going forward would be legitimate and be accepted as legitimate."

TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON MAIL-IN VOTING WARNINGS: 'DISASTER'

The president and the GOP have been warning for months about possible fraud connected to mail-in voting. The RNC and the Trump reelection campaign have doubled their legal budget this year to hit back at efforts by Democrats to overhaul voting laws in response to the pandemic.

Democrats, pushing back against the claims by Trump and the GOP, say that cases of actual voter fraud are limited and claim that Republicans are trying to suppress voter turnout to improve their chances of winning elections.

Video

"The idea of conducting elections by wholesale mail-in ballots is reckless and wrong," Barr said. "Everyone knows what has happened in these cases."

REPUBLICANS WARN MAIL-IN-VOTING RHETORIC COULD BACKFIRE

Barr clarified that because of the process required to obtain an absentee ballot, such voting is safer than general mail-in balloting, in which ballots are automatically sent "to everyone on the voting list," resulting in "thousands and thousands of ballots floating around, not just the state but the country."

"I have friends who haven't lived in California in 21 years who received ballots," Barr said. "There are ballots left in boxes in apartment buildings, ballots for people who used to live at addresses are delivered to those addresses.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"They can be filled out by anybody. This is reckless and it could create serious questions about the integrity of the election, and to do this when we are closely divided country as we are is playing with fire in my view."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.