May 3, 2026

Either Todd Blanche eats in bars, or he's just lying. On Sunday's Meet the Press, Blanche made his case for Voter ID. He's kind of a crappy lawyer if he thinks this reasoning will fly.

"There's a lot of things that we can be doing like voter ID, like every time you walk into a restaurant or a club you have to show your ID," Blanche said with an unnatural degree of certainty.

Unless he's eating his lunch in a bar with a couple of martinis, I don't think he has to show ID. He could walk into a Burger King or Dennys without revealing his true identity.

And of course, that argument is meant to support voter ID: "How about you have to show your ID to vote? That's not anything that's crazy and that's what we should be talking about."

No, not really. First of all, eating in restaurants or drinking in clubs is not a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution like voting is. And yes, Voter ID IS crazy because it forces people to get an identification card they don't want or can't afford. Under the evil SAVE Act, even a RealID wouldn't serve as Voter ID.

The online reaction was swift. And not just at Blanche, but also at Kristen Welker for just letting that absurd statement pass her by.

Everyone agrees that they have to show IDs when they go into restaurants. Except for people who have gone into restaurants.

John DeCock (@jdecock.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T15:08:09.096Z

Why can’t she just ask “WTF are you talking about?”

(@jmcb11.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T14:52:07.954Z

Are they capable of not lying? I went to a restaurant yesterday and nobody asked for my ID

(@bantamsam.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T14:37:12.843Z

1. When was the last time you had to show your ID to walk into a restaurant?
2. If he means to purchase liquor, unlike the SAVE act, I don’t have to prove citizenship with a birth certificate or passport to do that.
3. Going to a restaurant isn’t a right.

Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) 2026-05-03T15:43:22.901Z

I must be going to different restaurants. I have never been asked to show ID to eat.

Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T14:48:36.409Z

we call those “bars” but I concede that if you hang around Pirro for a night or two the distinction gets blurry

post malone ergo propter malone (@proptermalone.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T15:42:29.320Z

A friend asks: “Has it occurred to anyone that the MAGAs think you have to show IDs at restaurants because they’ve been eating all their meals at strip clubs? This isn’t even an unreasonable theory”

Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2026-05-03T15:27:15.447Z

The push for national Voter ID is real and it's definitely in full swing, despite the fact that most Republicans know the SAVE Act is dead as a doornail.

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