‘I Can’t Say That Any Longer’: Michael Smerconish Admits He Was Wrong to Dismiss Illegal Immigrant Voting

Commentator and lawyer Michael Smerconish admitted he was wrong to dismiss Republican concerns about illegal voting after New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) revealed this week that a computer glitch resulted in more than 6,000 noncitizens being registered to vote in the Garden State.

Speaking to journalist Mark Halperin during a Wednesday episode of his Sirius XM show The Michael Smerconish Program, the CNN host said it was time to reevaluate the issue of voter fraud, while Halperin called the news “politically potent.”

MARK HALPERIN: We have to take what she acknowledged happening and now we have to build on it. There needs to be an independent investigation, because this is true, that it’s new and it illustrates what Republicans have warned about.

But the scale that the governor says it happened at and her reasons for why she says it happened make it a much, if true, make it a much less big story.

If it happened by accident on this small scale, it requires a lot more explanation and investigation about whether it’s happened in New Jersey more or elsewhere. But the scale is not very significant. So we need to know more. And this shouldn’t be a political thing that’s governed simply by who can spin better or tweet funnier.

It should be what are the facts? How did this happen? What was the scale? Is it happening elsewhere? And everyone should be determined to get to the bottom of that regardless of what position they’ve had in the past on this question.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH: Yeah, I agree. It’s it’s wipe the slate clean and let’s see where the the facts lead us. There was a an analysis in The Times in January on which I relied January of 2026. Initial review finds no widespread illegal voting by migrants puncturing a Trump claim.

And I remember discussing this at length, having guests on to talk about it and then coming to the conclusion that you referenced, this doesn’t happen. I can’t say that any longer.

I don’t know how often it does happen, but I can’t say any longer this never happens.

HALPERIN: And just as I’ve been critical of Republicans before yesterday who have overstated the extent of our knowledge about how often it happens, I was critical of Democrats and who said this never happens. There’s no need to investigate it and and kind of taunted Republicans.

What yesterday demonstrates is Republicans have, were right that say we need to find out the truth of these things.

Sherrill announced the computer glitch this week in a post on X, sparking the ire of MAGA fans.

Watch above via YouTube.

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