Trump's inconsistent messaging clashes with the RNC's attempted embrace of early voting

At practically every Donald Trump rally, scripted words encouraging early voting get loaded into the teleprompter. But those words are rarely the actual message the former president delivers to his audience. 

The Republican National Committee has embraced early voting in 2024. Trump has promoted it in recordings the GOP played at its convention and in ads distributed around the country, as well as in copies of his prepared remarks at rallies. But live and on the trail, Trump’s tenor on the subject has remained inconsistent, often veering off remarks and instead sowing doubt in the legitimacy of the early voting process, confusing Republican voters — and potentially getting in the way of the party’s efforts to chase votes this fall. 

“They have early voting, late voting, everything is so ridiculous,” Trump said onstage in Palm Beach, Florida, in July. “We should have one-day voting, paper ballots, voter ID and certification of citizenship. And that’s what we’re striving for.” 

Meanwhile, the Trump-installed leaders of the RNC, chair Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, have crisscrossed the country on a “Protect the Vote” election integrity tour. A major component of their advocacy: promoting the importance of early voting. 

“The message from President Trump is very clear. It is great if you want to vote early,” Whatley said during a tour stop in Tampa, Florida, this summer. “It is great if you want to vote by mail,” he continued. 

The very same day, Trump gave a contradictory response when asked about early voting in an interview: “Anytime you have mail-in voting, you’re going to have fraud and some people don’t like me saying it, but I say it,” Trump said during a Fox News interview.

In fact, state election officials have noted that voter fraud is rare, and states with mail balloting have numerous safeguards in place to prevent mail ballots from being misused.

Trump doesn’t always dismiss early and mail voting in those terms. He voted early this month in his home state of Florida and posted a TikTok video encouraging people to vote early. He also occasionally straightly delivers a prepared remark that encourages early voting without caveating his skepticism of the practice. 

"This election cycle, President Trump, the RNC, and our campaign have been clear to voters: Vote early," Karoline Leavitt, Trump's national press secretary, said in a statement.

Still, the inconsistency of Trump’s early voting messaging has led many of his supporters toward cynicism and confusion around the topic.

“I don’t think there should be early voting,” Bob Breneman, a Trump supporter from Pennsylvania, said in an interview. “I believe there should be picture voting and photograph voting to be honest with you. Because that would eliminate a lot of the cheating that goes on,” he said. 

Another Trump supporter, Susan Anderson from Nevada, said, “I think same-day voting is a good idea, because it keeps it more honest.”

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Then, when asked how she would be voting, Anderson responded, “We’d do whatever, and usually it’s early voting.” 

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The RNC’s “Protect the Vote” tour has hit key battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia this summer, often bolstering early voting as an effective option to their Republican audience.

“We have set up an effort to reach out — call it an early vote program nationwide,” Whatley said at one of the events. 

Despite the RNC’s efforts, the dozens of Trump supporters in key battleground states that NBC spoke with still echoed their party leader’s hesitancy. 

“I think we should just have day-of voting, paper ballots, is what I’m thinking,” said Trump supporter Troy Mattson. “That’s the only way to do it. We’ve got to go back to that.”

Early voting is a method of casting a ballot that advocates say can increase the likelihood of voter turnout. In the United States, all 50 states and Washington, D.C., allow early ballots to be cast by mail or in person, with 35 states plus D.C. allowing early voting without requiring an excuse.

But Trump has polarized an issue that once had more even support across the political spectrum and has long been deployed in Republican-leaning states.

This year, just 37% of Republicans say people should have the option to vote early without giving a specific reason, according to May polling from the Pew Research Center. That sharply contrasts with 82% support from Democrats. While the Democratic number hasn’t budged in six years, Republicans support has dropped nearly 20 points in that time, according to Pew.

In 2020, though Covid-19 had a big impact on voting for many, Biden voters were nearly twice as likely as Trump supporters to vote by mail, according to Pew’s studies.