Lewis opened the discussion by questioning why the United States has not adopted stricter voter identification requirements similar to those used in other countries.
He pointed to international practices as a baseline for election security and framed voter ID as a common-sense safeguard rather than a partisan issue.
“Just in principle, you look at so many other countries around the globe and they have these measures in place. They have federal ID that has to be presented before you go to vote or before you register to vote. So why on earth would we not want to have that right here in America, when so many other countries on the planet do?” Lewis said.
Cooke responded by criticizing Democrats for what she described as a reversal of their historical support for voter verification measures.
She referenced multiple pieces of federal legislation passed with Democratic backing in the 1990s and early 2000s, arguing that voter identification and citizenship verification were once bipartisan priorities.
“Well, and I also want to ask Democrats today, what happened? What happened to your policies? What happened to your common sense? What happened to you working for the common man?” Cooke said.