Yes, Trump did tell an audience ‘you won’t have to vote anymore’ if he is reelected

Story update 7/30/24: Former President Donald Trump appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on July 29 and was asked about his remarks about voting at “The Believers’ Summit.” This story has been updated with Trump’s response to Ingraham.

On July 26, former President Donald Trump was in Palm Beach, Florida, speaking at “The Believers’ Summit,” a conservative Christian event hosted by right-wing organization Turning Point USA. 

While Trump spoke for more than an hour, a roughly 30-second clip from his speech went viral on social media after he spoke. In the video, he can be heard saying Christians won’t have to vote again as long as he wins the 2024 election. The video has racked up millions of views. 

VERIFY viewers Ann, Joyce, Gigi, Ruth and Sonja asked us if this clip is real. 

THE QUESTION

Did Donald Trump tell an audience at a Christian event “you won’t have to vote anymore” if he is reelected president?

THE SOURCES

• Original video of Trump’s full July 26 speech published by CSPAN
• Statement from Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung to The New York Times
• Trump July 29 appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on July 29
• Statement posted to X from Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer 

THE ANSWER

Yes, Donald Trump did tell an audience at a Christian event “you won’t have to vote anymore” if he is reelected president. 

WHAT WE FOUND

During the July 26 “Believers’ Summit” event hosted by Turning Point USA, former President Donald Trump delivered the keynote address and during that, made the remarks heard in the clip being shared on social media. 

The statement about voting came at the end of his roughly hour-long address. 

Towards the end of his address, Trump started talking about his plan to increase voter identification requirements. Then, at the 1:02 mark of this video published by CSPAN, Trump can be heard talking about the importance of voting in the upcoming presidential election. Here are Trump’s remarks on voting in full, with the portion heard in the viral video clip in bold font for emphasis:

“But with voting, one of your most important things you can do maybe, in many ways, your most important – they don’t want to approve voter ID that’s because they want to cheat – but until then Republicans must win. We have to win this election. Most important election ever. We want a landslide that’s too big to rig. If you want to save America, get your friends, get your family, get everyone you know and vote. Vote early. Vote absentee. Vote on Election Day. I don’t care how but you have to get out and vote. And again, Christians, get out and vote just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore. My beautiful Christians, I love you Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you. Get out, you got to get out and vote. In four years you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to get out and vote.”

During a July 29 appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham asked Trump about the comment. Trump began speaking about how the Democratic party treats people of certain religions before telling Ingraham what he meant by the remarks at the summit.

“So with respect to a statement like I made, that statement is very simple. I said, vote for me. You’re not going to have to do it ever again. It’s true, because we have to get the vote out. Christians are not known as a big voting group. They don’t vote. And I’m explaining that to them. You never vote. This time, vote. I will straighten out the country. You won’t have to vote anymore. I won’t need your vote. You can go back to not voting,” Trump told Ingraham.

Prior to Trump’s appearance on Ingraham’s show, Trump’s campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The New York Times: “President Trump was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt.”

Since losing the election in 2020 to President Joe Biden, Trump has repeated false claims of widespread election fraud. James Singer, the spokesperson for Harris’ presidential campaign, issued a statement in response to Trump’s comments during the Summit, writing “Donald Trump wants to take America backward” by calling for an end to fair elections. 

During the interview with Ingraham, Ingraham asked Trump if he would  leave office after four years, to which he responded “Of course. By the way, and I did last time. I kept hearing, he’s not going to leave. He’s not going to leave. Look, they are the ones that are a threat to democracy.”

VERIFY reached out to the Trump campaign for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.