BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday he doesn’t have enough information to directly comment on a discredited theory that busloads of Massachusetts voters crossed the state line to illegally cast ballots in New Hampshire.
President Donald Trump has said he only lost New Hampshire to Democrat Hillary Clinton because “thousands” of people came by bus to vote against him.
The Republican governor said he’s not familiar enough with the voting situation in New Hampshire.
“I don’t know anything about New Hampshire, I just don’t, and it bothers me when people in public life purport to know about things they don’t know about,” Baker said during his monthly appearance on WGBH-FM.
Baker added that if someone has a concern with how votes were counted and tabulated there are ways to file a complaint.
Baker went on to note, however, that former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath has called the allegations baseless.
In a tweet sent out on Sunday, Rath, a Republican, said “Let me as be unequivocal as possible - allegations of voter fraud in NH are baseless, without any merit - it’s shameful to spread these fantasies.”
If Rath has dismissed the issue, “that’s all I need to know,” Baker said Thursday.
Rath’s tweet came the same day that presidential adviser Stephen Miller offered up the voter fraud theory during a round of TV appearances that won praise from Trump.
“I can tell you that this issue of busing voters in to New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who’s worked in New Hampshire politics. It’s very real, it’s very serious,” Miller said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Miller failed to offer any new evidence to back up the claim.
The accusation that people from more liberal Massachusetts crossed state lines in buses and voted also was made by Republican Chris Sununu, who won election as New Hampshire governor. Sununu quickly backed down.
The chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party Gus Bickford has also dismissed the claim, saying “Donald Trump lost New Hampshire fair and square.”
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