U.S. president Donald Trump has falsely claimed you need to show photo identification to buy groceries in his country.
“You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything you need ID, you need a picture,” Trump said at a rally Tuesday night in Florida.
He was using groceries as an example while calling for voter ID laws.
“In this country, the only time you don’t need [ID] in many cases is when you want to vote for president, when you want to vote for senator, when you want to vote for a governor or congressman,” he said, adding, “It’s crazy.”
“Only American citizens should vote in American elections. The time has come for voter ID.”
While Time magazine reports there are certain stores that ask to see identification when someone pays with a credit card, there are no known requirements for purchasing groceries.
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A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to questions from the Associated Press about when the president last bought groceries or anything else himself. Photo IDs are required for certain purchases, such as alcohol, cigarettes or cold medicine.
Many on Twitter questioned when Trump, a billionaire, had last bought groceries himself.
The next day, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said IDs were required when you purchase beer or wine, even though the president didn’t mention alcohol in his comments.
“I’m pretty sure that everybody in here that’s been to a grocery store that’s purchased beer and wine has had to show ID,” Sanders said Wednesday.
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She also clarified the “purpose of his comments.”
“That’s the purpose of his comments, he wants to make sure that anybody that’s voting is someone who should be voting. I think that’s something that frankly should be celebrated, not discriminated.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 34 states have laws that require voters to show identification when voting. The other 16 states use other methods to verify voters, including matching signatures.
Republicans have called for sharper teeth on voting laws in the past years, while opponents say that would restrict the underprivileged from voting.
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Trump also used the rally to defend his trade practices, and compared himself to Abraham Lincoln.
“I can be more presidential than any president in history, except for maybe Abe Lincoln with the big hat,” Trump said. “I admit it, Abe Lincoln is tough.”
*with a file from the Associated Press
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