At Florida Rally, Trump Says Grocery Shopping Requires Photo IDs

At a “Make America Great Again” rally in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump, while advocating stricter voting laws and telling his supporters why he wanted people to show identification proof before casting their votes, wrongly claimed that IDs are required for grocery shopping.

“You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card, you need ID. You go out and you want to buy anything, you need ID and you need your picture,” he said.

While IDs may be required if you are paying with a credit card, or purchasing alcohol, cigarettes or cold medicine, it will not be asked for if you are purchasing daily grocery items like milk or egg.

His comment lit up the internet, with several questioning when the last time he went out for grocery shopping.

“On the topic of voter ID, Trump says if you want to go out and buy groceries, you have to have an ID, which as anyone who buys their own groceries knows, is not accurate. Out of all the things one does consistently need an ID for, that is not one of them,” wrote Kathryn Watson, a political reporter with CBS.

“Trump: 'If you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card. You need ID.' This man has never bought a carton of milk in his life, has he?” tweeted Kaili Joy Gray, managing editor of Sharkblue.

“Only American citizens should vote in American elections. The time has come for voter ID like everything else,” Trump said about tougher ID requirements for voters.

During the rally, Trump also compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, who he believes is the most popular person in the Republican Party. Trump said he can be "more presidential than any president in history," except for Lincoln, "with that big hat."

Trump also said it's time for Florida to vote Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson out of the office. "We have to make sure Rick Scott wins and wins big," he said. The president also claimed his campaign is responsible for department stores bringing back “Merry Christmas” signage.

While speaking about the Chinese tariffs that have targeted American farmers, Trump said, “Our farmers are true patriots. And you know what our farmers are saying? It’s okay, we can take it — these are incredible people.”

Trump also claimed to have saved the taxpayers millions of dollars by intervening to prevent building a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.

Prior to the rally, he met students and faculty at a Tampa technical school and told them that there has never been a better time to get hired for a new job or to develop new skills.

Before his scheduled arrival, several protesters gathered outside the fairgrounds expo hall in Tampa, which included Florida billionaire Jeff Greene who parked a bus with the words "Trump's worst nightmare" outside the venue.