On Thursday’s Morning Joe, MS NOW’s Jonathan Lemire grossly misrepresented the scale of New Jersey’s non-citizen voter registration scandal.
Lemire claimed that the state “had to acknowledge that a few hundred voters were, you know, non-citizens were mistakenly added to the voting rolls.”
That is false. According to multiple reports, including NBC News, roughly 6,600 non-citizens were improperly registered to vote, allegedly because of a software error at the Motor Vehicle Commission. About 400 of them cast ballots.
By switching the two numbers, Lemire shrank the registration failure by more than 90% -- leaving viewers with a dramatically understated picture of what actually occurred.
John Heilemann, focusing only on the number who voted, chimed in to dismiss the matter as "statistically insignificant." The 6,600 improper registrations themselves were never mentioned.
Earlier in the same segment, Chuck Schumer was shown making an extraordinary claim about his Republican colleagues. In an interview with Ali Vitali, Schumer said:
“If you could do a truth serum and give it to Republican senators, about 80% of them would agree he’s trying to steal the election. The trouble is they’re too damn scared to say anything about it.”
Back in the studio, Katty Kay asked Vitali whether she thought the 80% figure was accurate. Vitali replied:
“I think he may be right that there are some Republicans that are concerned about that. I also think that the 80% number might be inflated.”
"Might be."
So MS NOW’s senior Capitol Hill correspondent treated as plausible the idea that four out of five Republican senators secretly believe the president is trying to steal the election. The only question was whether Schumer’s percentage was a bit high.
MS NOW’s Lemire Falsely Claims 'A Few Hundred' Non-Citizens Added to New Jersey Voter Rolls — Real Number Was 6,600!@JonLemire @Morning_Joe pic.twitter.com/e6Xj8i4cml
— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) July 23, 2026
Vitali had already framed the conversation with another loaded term, asking Schumer about “the fact that more election deniers are being elected into office.”
“Election denier” is not neutral language. It's a highly-charged, partisan Dem term, borrowed from "Holocaust deniers." And it doesn't recall that MSNBC sounded like "election deniers" in 2000, 2004, and 2016.
Schumer offered no evidence for his 80% claim. And Vitali offered almost no pushback.
And when a blue state admitted that 6,600 non-citizens had been improperly placed on the voter rolls, the network’s coverage misrepresented the number itself, reducing it by over 90%.
That's how the liberal media's double standard works.
Here's the transcript.
MS NOW
Morning Joe
7/23/26
6:28 am EDT
ALI VITALI: The exercise that you just did, I imagine in all of your years here in the Senate, you’ve never prepared for a midterm election that way, is that right?
CHUCK SCHUMER: That’s exactly right.
VITALI: So why is this moment different?
SCHUMER: We have never had a president like Donald Trump, whose ambition, whose sole focus and desire, it seems, is to overturn the election and cheat the election.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: So behind closed doors this week, Democratic senators were running through what Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called doomsday scenarios surrounding this November’s midterms.
The simulations are part of a broader effort in anticipation of threats that Democrats believe could emerge from President Trump and his allies, from misinformation campaigns to potential disruptions at polling places.
. . .
VITALI: Because when I asked Senate Majority Leader -- Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about the landscape that they’re doing this in, listen to what he told me.
[Speaking to Schumer] As you look at the fact that more election deniers are being elected into office, though, what do you think about the fact that most senators on the Republican side see that you’re doing this and say they’re being hyperbolic, they’re being emotional?
SCHUMER: If you could do a truth serum and give it to Republican senators, about 80% of them would agree he’s trying to steal the election. The trouble is they’re too damn scared to say anything about it.
. . .
KATTY KAY: Ali, you spend a lot of time speaking to senators, both Democratic and Republican senators. When Chuck Schumer there says 80% of them, given truth serum, would agree that the White House is gonna use dirty tricks to try to sway the election, do you think he’s right? Do you think Republicans do feel, do fear that as much almost as Democrats do?
VITALI: I think he may be right that there are some Republicans that are concerned about that. I also think that the 80% number might be inflated.
. . .
LEMIRE: For his purposes, earlier this week, he got his single best headline on any topic in months, when the state of New Jersey had to acknowledge that a few hundred voters were, you know, non-citizens were mistakenly added to the voting rolls, and some did, and it was a mix of Republican, independents and—
JOHN HEILEMANN: And statistically insignificant! Not to diminish it, it definitely breaks the law, and we should be serious and vigilant about making sure that there’s no voter fraud.
LEMIRE: But it was a mistake.
HEILEMANN: Four hundred votes were cast in, you know, against, against, given the broad vote totals. It’s a statistically insignificant number. And that’s been the case. We’ve seen voter fraud in the history of America, but just not on a scale that’s ever been enough to tip an election.
LEMIRE: But for his campaign --
HEILEMANN: Incredible, incredible, especially in a blue state. And I’ll just say, you know, Donald Trump doesn’t throw every punch he telegraphs, but every punch he throws, he does telegraph, and he’s been telegraphing this one for a pretty long time, so you better get ready for it.
LEMIRE: Yeah, this one's coming--agreed.
