Connecticut lawmakers react to Trump’s primetime address

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) - Connecticut lawmakers weighed in on President Donald Trump’s Thursday night address.

Trump addressed election security and called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a federal voter ID bill.

He claimed there were “shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.”

The president’s critics, including Connecticut leaders, continued to accuse him of undermining trust in elections following his lawful loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 general election.

Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat, posted to social media that Trump lied to the American people.

“Make no mistake, he is laying the foundation so that if Election Day goes badly for Republicans he can [turn] around and claim foul play by our adversaries,” Himes wrote. “Our elections continue to be safe and secure from foreign interference, but it’s increasingly clear that the greatest threat to our democracy is the President himself.”

Rep. Jahana Hayes, also a Democrat, posted that there was “not enough tin foil on the planet to cover this speech.”

Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat up for reelection this year, meanwhile promised that Connecticut’s elections are safe and secure.

“President Trump once again used his platform to undermine Americans’ faith in our democracy to serve his own political interests,” Lamont said. “Connecticut’s elections have been and will continue to be safe, secure, and accessible — and I will not let the president’s conspiracy theories intimidate our voters or weaken their constitutional right to have their voice heard."

One of Lamont’s opponents, Democratic state Rep. Josh Elliott, called the president’s remarks “another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to create doubt and fear around our elections. Trump is a bully and a sore loser.”

“To all Americans, I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives in the House and Senate, and demand that they pass the Save America Act without delay,” Trump said in his address.

The SAVE America Act has so far failed to gain enough support from lawmakers, including some Republicans.