Trump Campaign Press Secretary Mentions Story Of Dead Cat Allegedly Receiving Ballot To Warn About Mail-In Voting

Trump Campaign Press Secretary Hogan Gidley on Friday offered the recent story of a dead cat receiving a ballot as a reason for being cautious about the integrity of mail-in voting.

During a discussion on Fox News’ “Outnumbered Overtime,” Gidley addressed the recent bipartisan pushback against President Donald Trump for repeatedly questioning the trustworthiness of an election that hinges on universal mail-in voting.

“Universal mail-ins are a disaster,” Gidley said. “The president’s been very clear about that. The data shows that it’s rife with all types of ways to cheat. It has a potential for fraud that I think would shock any American, and you see this time and time again in report after report.”

After referencing troubling issues in California and New Jersey, Gidley mentioned, “There was even one story where someone’s cat received a ballot to vote. Now, I understand a lot of viewers may like their cat enough and want them to vote, but this cat has another problem – it was also dead for 10 years. So, it’s pretty clear the government has a systemic problem with issuing votes across the country, because the American people deserve each individual vote to count on its own.”

According to The Associated Press, Ron and Carol Tims of Atlanta, Georgia, received a ballot in the mail earlier this month addressed to Cody Tims, their cat who died 12 years ago and whose ashes they keep in a green container. Carol described Cody as “a great cat, indoor and outdoor, loved his family, loved his neighborhood. He was 18 and a half when he passed away.”

“There’s a huge push but if they’re trying to register cats, I’m not sure who else they’re trying to register. I’m not sure if they’re trying to register dogs, mice, snakes,” she added.

The Secretary of State’s Office blamed third-party groups for the feline ballot, saying, “Third-party groups all over the country are targeting Georgia to help register qualified individuals. This group makes you wonder what these out-of-town activists are really doing. Make no mistake about it, this office is dedicated to investigating all types of fraud.”

Trump catapulted the issue of mail-in voting to the front of the national discourse earlier this week when he tweeted a video of a CBS News investigation that found a sizable portion of mail-in ballots failed to return in a mock election.

As The Daily Wire reported earlier this week:

[CBS News “This Morning” co-host Tony Dokoupil] sent out 100 mock ballots in the Philadelphia area, using the same size envelope, weight, and class of mail to simulate genuine mail-in votes, albeit without the expedited “Election Mail” insignia. After the post office box was set up, 100 more faux ballots were sent out.

“We’re gonna see somewhere between probably 80 and 100 million voters receiving their ballot that way,” a former Arizona election official told Dokoupil.

After a week, 97% of the ballots Dokoupil mailed had been returned. “Three simulated persons, or 3% of voters, were effectively disenfranchised by mail by giving their ballots a week to arrive,” CBS noted. “In a close election, 3% could be pivotal.” Even four days after mailing the second round of fake ballots, 21% of the fake votes had failed to materialize. Almost half of states all

ow voters to receive ballots less than half-a-week before the election.At the memorial for late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on Thursday, former President Obama blasted Trump for allegedly undermining the postal service. “Even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations, and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision – even undermining the postal service in the run up to an election that’s going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don’t get sick,” he said.