Where did President Donald Trump get the idea that "between 3 and 5 million 'illegals' voted for Hillary Clinton"?
Believe it or not, from a 10-minute hearsay incident that happened right here in the Sunshine State, according to The New York Times.
Talking with a group of lawmakers at a meet-and-greet Monday in Washington, recounting his electoral triumph, Trump said he'd been talking to famed golfer Bernhard Langer, the German two-time Masters champion. The two saw each other in Florida over the Thanksgiving holiday. Anyhoo -- on election day, said Trump, Langer was in Boca Raton where he lives, lined up to vote, when he was informed by an election official he would not be allowed to vote.
BUT -- individuals, described as "of Latin American descent" who were in line around Langer, were allowed to cast ballots.
Trump told lawmakers he was under the impression, based on the story Langer told him, that the individuals probably weren't legal voters.
As Trump completed his story, the gathered lawmakers sat "in an exceedingly awkward moment," according to the Times, before Republican Sen. John Cornyn quickly moved the group onto other topics.
Contacted in Boca after the president's conversation, Langer, 59, blamed the media for Trump's mischaracterization of his story.
Langer said he wasn't the one who had been in line, it was a friend. And contrary to Trump's telling, it wasn't Langer who relayed the story personally to Trump, but a friend of Langer's who "shared it with a person with ties to the White House."
"From there, this was misconstrued," German-born Langer said in a statement. "I am not a citizen of the United States, and cannot vote. It's a privilege to live in the United States, and I am blessed to call America my home."
Langer said he would have no further comment on the story.
Trump's comments during the meeting with Capitol Hill leaders kicked off a whirlwind 48 hours in which the Trump administration -- and the president himself -- continued to defend a statement about large-scale voter fraud, even though it is both unproven and considered by everyone from voting experts to Republican secretaries of state, the officials responsible for overseeing the election, to be categorically not true.
Yet Trump has now pledged to launch an investigation into the matter, seizing in an interview with ABC News on "people that are registered who are dead, who are illegals, who are in two states."
"There are millions of votes, in my opinion," Trump said.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
