Former Attorney General Eric Holder Eric Himpton HolderThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump's rally risk | Biden ramps up legal team | Biden hits Trump over climate policy Biden campaign forming 'special litigation' team ahead of possible voting battle Pompeo, Engel poised for battle in contempt proceedings MORE on Wednesday tore into President Trump's claims of rampant voter fraud, saying the allegations have laid a foundation for voter suppression and more restrictive voter identification laws.

"The vote fraud mantra is said so often — it’s almost said robotically — that some people have unthinkingly begun to believe that the issue is real," Holder said at a National Action Network conference in New York City.

"And with recent claims by Mr. Trump of ‘rigged elections’ based on fraud, again without any proof, save the bluster of the candidate, this mistaken belief in voter fraud becomes almost hardwired," he continued.

ADVERTISEMENT

President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States' election system is "rigged" and that rampant voter fraud by millions of "illegals" prevented him from winning the popular vote in November. The real estate mogul, however, won the Electoral College vote.

Because of those claims, Holder said, "a predicate has been laid for further voter suppression efforts," despite no credible evidence suggesting that voter fraud is a widespread problem.

During his tenure as the country's top law enforcement official under former President Obama, Holder vowed to aggressively challenge state voter ID laws, which disproportionately affect minorities and low-income voters. Thirty-three states currently have some form of voter ID law.