Trump Defends Gabbard's Role in Fulton County 2020 Election Fraud Probe

President Trump is doubling down on his administration's fight for free and fair elections. Ahead of a House vote next week, he's urging Republicans to pass the Save America Act, this coming amid a 2020 election fraud probe with the White House equating election integrity with national security. We now go live to NTD's Washington correspondent Mari Otsu. She's at the North Lawn of the White House this evening. Mari, great to see you. What do you have for us? Great to see you too, Melina. Good evening. That's right, President Trump is doubling down. He's actually declaring America's elections, quote, rigged, stolen, and a laughing stock globally. And he's also calling on Republicans to pass that Save Act, which is a bill that would require voters to show photo ID and proof of American citizenship. And as you said, this is coming amid an active investigation into 2020 election fraud with the White House defending the role of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, in that probe. Take a look. It's called voter identification. When you go to the polls, you show up. Yes, my name is so-and-so and I live in the country. I'm here, I can vote. They say that's not allowed. And everyone's trying to figure it out. And they do something to win. You know what it is? They cheat. The only reason you don't want to have voter ID is because you want people to vote who aren't citizens or shouldn't be voting. That's the simple truth. A Pew Research poll from 2025 shows overwhelming bipartisan support for requiring photo ID to vote. According to the poll, 71% of Democrats, 95% of Republicans, and 83% of all Americans agree. This push for the Save Act coming a couple weeks after President Trump speaking in Davos vowed justice is coming for the 2020 presidential election. And it wouldn't have started if the 2020 US presidential election weren't rigged. It was rigged election. Everybody now knows that they found out. People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. And last week, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at an election hub in Georgia. They seized hundreds of boxes containing original 2020 physical ballots, voter rolls, tabulator tapes from voting machines and other records. Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was present at the FBI search, drawing much scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and the media. We now have these claims by these rogue actions of the Director of National Intelligence. We have these conversations of federalizing elections. The White House, meanwhile, says President Trump has tasked Gabbard to oversee the, quote, sanctity and security of American elections and thus works directly alongside the FBI director, Kash Patel. But let me ask you this. If China or any of these countries are involved in our elections, that would bring her into it. Look, we have to have honest elections. I've seen a lot of the media in this room get very caught up with the semantics of why Tulsi Gabbard is there. I will tell you why. And the president agrees with this, because election security is essential to national security. And as the Director of National Intelligence, it is a part of Ms. Gabbard's role to make sure that American elections are free of foreign interference. In a letter to Congress, Gabbard defends her role, writing, quote, to preserve the integrity of our elections, we must understand whether there has been foreign or other malign influence in our elections, and whether vulnerabilities exist in our election infrastructure that could be exploited in future elections. I mean, how is it politicized? She's a law enforcement official tasked with our national security. And certainly, I don't think there's any dispute that the conduct of our elections, which are literally the way that our government comes into power, is a national security issue. Meanwhile, President Trump is celebrating stocks hitting a historic milestone today with the Dow arising above 50,000 points for the first time in history. And just before jetting off for Palm Beach for Super Bowl weekend, President Trump urges American voters to remember this economic victory when they vote for the upcoming midterm elections. Melina, back to you. Right. Thanks, Mari. Election integrity certainly is always important, but definitely carries more weight now that we're approaching this midterm elections. We appreciate your update this evening.