Sarah Huckabee Sanders tries and fails to explain Trump’s odd comment on groceries

Has Donald Trump ever even been to a grocery store? We may never know.

At a White House press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about Trump's now-infamous line from his Tampa rally in which he said, "The time has come for voter ID, like everything else. You know if you go out an buy groceries, you need a picture or a card — you need ID."

When pressed about the last time Trump was actually in a grocery store, Sanders said, "I'm not sure why that matters," before she stumbled through an explanation about how you have to show ID at a grocery store if you're buying beer and wine. Which could maybe sort of explain it — except the president doesn't drink. 

The answer is, overall, unsatisfying. 

Now, it is true that you have to present an ID to purchase alcohol, some drain cleaning supplies (depending on the state), and, if the store has a pharmacy, cold and allergy medicines that contain pseudoephedrine (which can be used to make meth). 

But one can easily make a trip to the grocery store without ever having to use an ID. 

This, you might think, is really splitting hairs. It's hardly the most outlandish thing Trump has said nor is it the most out-of-touch thing Trump has said. Why does it matter when, well, there's so much other horrific stuff happening?

It matters because Trump is using this inaccurate example to push tougher, more strict voter ID laws. Trump has repeatedly made claims about millions of illegal votes being cast in the 2016 election without ever offering proof. And his attempt at a commission to investigate the alleged fraud was disbanded without ever coughing up anything to back his claims. 

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It matters because Trump is trying to fundamentally change the way many people in the United States gain access to voting that it amounts to disenfranchising those voters, something that's already starting to happen across the country. 

Yes, there are cases of voter fraud that are investigated but they are extremely rare, they occur at a fraction of the rate Trump has claimed. Besides, if he really wants to investigate voter fraud, Trump may need to start in his own living room.

Trump's rhetoric about grocery store ID usage isn't just misleading, it's being used to prop up a piece of his platform that does real and lasting damage to the democratic process in America.