The Hill

President Trump reiterated his support for nationalizing elections Tuesday, despite backlash from both sides of the aisle on the proposal.

“I want to see elections be honest, and if a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after signing legislation to end a partial government shutdown, with Republican lawmakers surrounding him.

“Because if you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections,” the president continued. “I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do ’em anyway.”

He added, “But when you see some of these states, about how horribly they run their elections, what a disgrace it is, I think the federal government [should get involved].”

Trump initially called for transferring control of elections from certain states to the federal government during an interview Monday with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who departed the bureau last month and returned to hosting his podcast.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least 15 places,’” Trump said. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

In the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president referenced Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta — all Democratic-run cities — as places where “horrible corruption on elections” is occurring.

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“The federal government should get involved,” he added. “These are agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take it over.”

The Constitution grants states the authority to determine the “times, places and manner” of holding elections. It also states that Congress “may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.”

Trump’s push for nationalizing elections garnered pushback on Capitol Hill, particularly as Democrats question National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s presence during a recent FBI search of an election center in Fulton County, Ga.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said Tuesday that Trump’s comments are the “oldest trick in the book of dictators.”

“Just say that elections are fake, say certain people’s votes don’t count, your side should control elections for some made-up reason or another,” he continued in remarks from the Senate floor. “Well, we’ve seen this again and again in other countries, but never in the United States of America, until now.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), meanwhile, also said he is “not in favor of federalizing elections” Tuesday.

“I’m a big believer in decentralized and distributed power,” he told reporters. “And I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one. In my view, at least, that’s always a system that has worked pretty well.”

Rebecca Beitsch contributed.