White House walks back Trump's latest comments on mail-in voting

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC News) – The White House is walking back President Trump’s comments in which he urged his supporters to attempt to cast two ballots, one by mail, one in person.

“Let them send it in and let them go vote, and then if their system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated they’ll be able to vote, so that’s the way it is,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday.

The remarks, made in battleground North Carolina, prompted that state’s election supervisor to issue the warning “It is illegal to vote twice in an election.”

Mr. Trump, who’s been trying to cast doubt on mail-in balloting, later tweeted “Go to your Polling Place to see whether or not your Mail In Vote has been Tabulated”…”and if not, vote.”
Twitter slapped that message with a warning label for violating its rules on election integrity.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany later insisted the president wants every vote counted just once.

“Every vote should count, and everyone should verify their vote is counted,” McEnany said.

This all comes as Facebook announced it will ban new political ads in the week before election day, remove posts aimed at voter suppression and flag those that try to prematurely claim victory for one side or the other.

Analysts warn there are plenty of loopholes that allow older ads and personal posts to spread misinformation.