On May 20 of 2020 a meeting between Donald Trump and then Governors Hutchinson's and Kelly took place, though largely focused on healthcare Trump started pushing claims of voter fraud through Michigan's mail in ballots. [1]
Trump claimed that "there’s a lot illegality" with "mail in ballots", through people "harvesting ballots" saying he preferred people to just go out and vote. Trump also claims that "7.7 million mail-in ballots" were sent out. This claim by Trump is incorrect as Georgia never actually sent out 7.7 million mail-in ballots, but instead just the applications for voters to fill out to request a mail in ballot. Trump later revises his statement potentially suggesting a misunderstanding by saying "they had 7.7 million applications sent out". [1]
Trump went on to argue that mail-in ballots lead to "tremendous fraud" and "massive manipulation," describing scenarios where ballots are allegedly "picked out of mailboxes" and "harvested," and suggested that people may be submitting forged ballots using the "same kind of paper" and "machinery" to create undetectable fakes. He advocated instead for in-person voting and voter ID laws, stating, “Voting is an honor. It shouldn’t be something where they send you a pile of stuff and you send it back.” [1]