Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde was criticized after claiming "almost nobody" who is in a nursing home "is at a point" where they should be able to exercise their right to vote.
Hovde issued his remarks during an appearance on The Guy Benson Show, where he was asked for his thoughts on former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 general election was stolen.
He declined to remark on that subject however, instead opining that "Zuckerbucks"—a derogatory term referring to money Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated to local races around the country—and senior citizens in nursing homes have undermined the electoral process.
He said:
“I’m not going to spend my time talking about 2020. Do I believe the election was stolen? No, but did things happen in that election that were very troublesome? Absolutely, and I can point them out right here in Wisconsin."
"We had Zuckerbucks come into Democratic cities to push out — working with cities to push out Democratic votes.”
“We had nursing homes, where the sheriff of Racine investigated, where you had 100 percent voting in nursing homes. Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have a five, six-month life expectancy."
"Almost no one in a nursing home is in a point to vote, and you had children, adult children, saying, 'Who voted for my 85 or 90-year-old father or mother?"
You can hear what he said in the audio below.
The latest available data shows that the average nursing home resident is 81 years old, just four years older than Trump, who has backed Hovde's candidacy.
Moreover, voting statistics show that voting among nursing home residents in Milwaukee County was roughly 76 percent, not the 100 percent Hovde claimed. In fact, just one nursing home in the area had 100 percent voter turnout—and that one had just 12 registered voters.
Hovde was harshly criticized.
In a statement, a campaign spokesperson for Hovde downplayed Hovde's remarks:
"In no manner did Eric Hovde suggest that elderly people should not vote. He was referring to specific cases in Racine Co. where family members raised concerns about their loved ones voting."
Trump and his GOP surrogates have continued to assert that “thousands and thousands and thousands of crooked votes” came out of nursing homes in Wisconsin in 2020.
These claims were influenced by a partisan report conducted by former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who “Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) unlawfully directed clerks to violate rules protecting nursing home residents, resulting in a 100% voting rate in many nursing homes in 2020, including many ineligible voters”.
Despite these claims, then-candidate Joe Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin by about 20,000 votes and an audit determined there was no widespread fraud—in nursing homes or otherwise.
