Jake Tapper issued the strongest takedown yet of Trump's baseless voter fraud claims
Trump has insisted his popular-vote loss in November's election was because of millions of illegal ballots cast for his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, although he has provided no evidence for his claim. The president repeated the falsehood during a meeting with Congressmen on Monday, drawing bipartisan criticism from lawmakers.
Tapper sharply rebuked Trump's claim on CNN's "The Lead," calling it "a stunning allegation for which the White House is providing no evidence."
"And there is a reason they are providing no evidence - there is no evidence," Tapper said. "It is not true."
Reporters grilled White House press secretary Sean Spicer with questions about Trump's allegation on Tuesday. Spicer attributed Trump's belief to "studies and information he has," but declined to provide specifics.
When asked if Trump would launch an investigation into the alleged voter fraud, Spicer said "maybe we will," but he maintained Trump is "very comfortable with his win."
Tapper pounced on the comments: "If there were even a fraction of the voter fraud that President Trump is alleging, he would be derelict not to order a major investigation."
Trump made his original claim of voter fraud in November, weeks after his Election Day victory, as late waves of provisional and absentee ballots contributed to Clinton's tally. Trump won the electoral college 306-232, although Clinton finished with about 3 million more votes than Trump.
In reality, the rate of voter fraud is less than 0.001%, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice.