Wednesday’s PBS News Hour offered some rare media coverage of one of President Trump’s legislative priorities, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, his popular voter ID bill based on the idea that ineligible ballots from non-citizens should not dilute the votes of American citizens, while holding every state to the same voter verification standards.
The SAVE ACT, which has passed the House but faces a struggle in the Senate because of the filibuster, received the typical PBS treatment given to conservative legislation, with left-leaning, unlabeled “experts” offering a warped view.
White House correspondent Liz Landers led the slanted coverage.
Landers: If passed, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America, Act would transform voting in this country in two major ways. It would require all Americans to prove U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and it would require all voters to show an I.D. when voting in person or by mail. Voters submitting absentee mail ballots would have to provide a photocopy of their I.D….
President Donald Trump: We don't want people that aren't citizens of our country voting. We don't want people that aren't studied, and we don't want people that can't love our country voting in our elections. So it's very simple.
Liz Landers: But it's not that simple. By any definition, the number of ballots cast illegally and by noncitizens in America elections is incredibly small.
David Becker, Executive Director, Center for Election Innovation and Research: We know our elections are more secure than ever. We know we have more protections and checks and balances against fraud than ever…
Landers: A study by the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security found that, of the 49.5 million voter registrations that were checked for the 2024 election, about 10,000 cases were referred for additional investigation of noncitizenship. That's roughly 0.02 percent of names processed....
In 2024, PBS turned to Becker -- a former employee of the liberal group People for the American Way -- to "debunk" Fox host Greg Gutfeld. Then Landers selectively cited polling data.
Landers: And Americans are not overly concerned about the chances of voter fraud. In our new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll out today, 66 percent of Americans are confident their state or local government will run fair elections in November, which is down from 76 percent in October 2024; 33 percent of adults believe the biggest threat to safe and secure elections is voter fraud. Republicans are much more concerned about this than Democrats.
The bolded above sentence probably explains why Landers is poo-poohing voting concerns. PBS is stuffed with Democrats. We can bet there's not a Republican in the News Hour studio.
Landers ignored other polls showing the popularity of the contents of the bill, including: proof of citizenship (75%), voter ID (81%), and states removing non-citizens from voter rolls (80%).
She did allow a pithy clip from the White House.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary: You need an I.D. to go and purchase alcohol. You need an I.D. to go to the library and check out a book. And so the president thinks you should have an I.D. to vote in our nation's elections.
Landers offered melodramatic spin and liberal language like “disenfranchisement” to characterize something as basic as ensuring only citizens can vote. Millions "could" be denied the opportunity to vote.
Landers: But requiring I.D. documents like passports and birth certificates could disenfranchise millions of people.
As usual, the elitist press exaggerates the effect of so-called voting restrictions. Remember the 2021 Georgia state law, which among other things expanded voter I.D. requirements, and was smeared as a return to Jim Crow? Yet turnout actually increased for the 2022 mid-term elections.
Landers continued: “About half of Americans don't have passports and many do not have a copy of their birth certificate. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to those documents.”
This was accompanied on screen by a close-up of the relevant Brennan Center post. Landers did not explain the Brennan Center is a leftist group headed by Michael Waldman, a former speechwriter for President Clinton, who recently trashed the SAVE Act as "a drive by President Trump and his administration to undermine the 2026 election. It is unprecedented, outlandish."
PBS did not acknowledge that the registration requirements of the actual bill would only apply to newly registered voters. The act includes directives to states to establish alternative ways for applicants to establish their citizenship even if they don’t have the required documents (something in the interest of the states to do, if only to retain voting power). It accommodates the disabled or those who have changed their name.
As usual, PBS loaded up on arguments and experts from the Left while it claims to serve the entire public.
A transcript is available, click “Expand.”
PBS News Hour
3/11/26
7:30:22 p.m. (ET)
Geoff Bennett: President Trump vowed this week not to sign any bills into law until a sweeping new voting bill is passed. Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, takes a closer look at its prospects.
Liz Landers: Early Sunday morning, hours after returning from Delaware, where he took part in the solemn observance of the return of remains of six U.S. soldiers killed, President Trump posted about the SAVE America Act.
Quote: "It supersedes everything else," he wrote, and -- quote -- "must go to the front of the line. I as president will not sign other bills until this is passed."
President Donald Trump: And, perhaps most importantly, I'm asking you to approve the SAVE America Act.
(Cheering)
Liz Landers: If passed, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America, Act would transform voting in this country in two major ways. It would require all Americans to prove U.S. citizenship when registering to vote, and it would require all voters to show an I.D. when voting in person or by mail.
Voters submitting absentee mail ballots would have to provide a photocopy of their I.D. The bill would also require states to frequently review voter rolls and remove any noncitizens. And it would mandate states share voter registration data with the federal government, which most states have refused to do, a move backed by several federal judges.
President Donald Trump: We don't want people that aren't citizens of our country voting. We don't want people that aren't studied, and we don't want people that can't love our country voting in our elections. So it's very simple.
Liz Landers: But it's not that simple. By any definition, the number of ballots cast illegally and by noncitizens in America elections is incredibly small.
David Becker, Executive Director, Center for Election Innovation and Research: We know our elections are more secure than ever. We know we have more protections and checks and balances against fraud than ever. And we also know that this administration has gone out hunting for fraud with all of the tools of the federal government over the last year, and they have found virtually none.
Liz Landers: A study by the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security found that, of the 49.5 million voter registrations that were checked for the 2024 election, about 10,000 cases were referred for additional investigation of noncitizenship. That's roughly 0.02 percent of names processed.
In Georgia, a 2024 audit of its 8.2 million registered voters found only 20 noncitizens who had registered.
Rick Hasen, UCLA School of Law: If you're a noncitizen and you sign under penalty of perjury that you are a citizen and you're eligible to vote, you're committing a felony which could render you not only deportable, but also get you jail time. And for what? For -- to have one vote. So it's really not the way that elections are stolen.
Liz Landers: And Americans are not overly concerned about the chances of voter fraud. In our new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll out today, 66 percent of Americans are confident their state or local government will run fair elections in November, which is down from 76 percent in October 2024; 33 percent of adults believe the biggest threat to safe and secure elections is voter fraud. Republicans are much more concerned about this than Democrats.
Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary: You need an I.D. to go and purchase alcohol. You need an I.D. to go to the library and check out a book. And so the president thinks you should have an I.D. to vote in our nation's elections.
Liz Landers: But requiring I.D. documents like passports and birth certificates could disenfranchise millions of people.
Rick Hasen: If you're poor, you're moving a lot, you're say a student who's gone away to college, you have changed your name because you have gotten married or for some other reasons, all of those people would have more difficulty obtaining these documents.
Liz Landers: About half of Americans don't have passports and many do not have a copy of their birth certificate. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to those documents.
And voting rights advocates say the SAVE America Act requirements could disproportionately affect older Americans and low-income voters, another concern, newly married voters. A 2023 Pew survey found that more than 80 percent of women and 5 percent of men change or hyphenate their names after marriage, meaning their passport, birth certificate and other documents may not align, requiring additional paperwork to register to vote.
Tammy Patrick, National Association for Election Administrators: I don't think there's anyone that wants ineligible voters to participate in our democracy, full stop. But what we do want to make sure is everyone who is eligible doesn't have obstacles that they have to overcome in order to participate.
