President Trump, while in North Carolina, appears to encourage people to vote twice

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- President Donald Trump during a trip to North Carolina on Wednesday appeared to encourage voters to try to vote twice to make sure the system is working properly.

His remarks came following a question from a WECT reporter about absentee voting in the state.

"They'll go out and vote and they're going to have to go check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way," Trump said. "Let them send it in and let them go vote and if the system's as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote. If it isn't calculated, they'll be able to vote. So that's the way it is and that's what they should do."

United States Attorney General William Barr was asked about the comments by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday afternoon.

"Well, I don't know exactly what he was saying," Barr said. "But it seems to me what he's saying is he's trying to make the point that the ability to monitor this system is not good and if it was so good, if you tried to vote a second time, you would be caught if you voted in-person."

The North Carolina State Board of Elections website says that if someone has voted by absentee ballot and then shows up to vote in person, the check-in system will alert the poll worker that the person has already voted.

Voting more than once in an election is a form of voter fraud and a federal offense.

Trump was in North Carolina on Wednesday to designate Wilmington as the first American World War II Heritage City.