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Former White House adviser Steve Bannon

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon said ICE "will surround the polls" in the midterm elections after President Donald Trump said Republicans should "take over" the voting process in some places.

Speaking in his War Room podcast, Bannon said "we're not going to sit here and allow to steal the country again." "You can whine and cry and throw your toys out all you want but We'll never again allow an election to be stolen."

The remark comes after President Donald Trump sparked controversy for saying Republicans should "nationalize" elections and take over the voting process from states in some places.

"The Republicans should say, 'We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least — many, 15 places.' The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting," Trump said during an appearance in former Deputy FBI Dan Bongino's podcast.

"We have states that are so crooked, and they're counting votes — we have states that I won that show I didn't win. Now you're going see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order, the ballots, you're going to see some interesting things," he added, in reference to an FBI raid on Fulton County.

It is the latest escalation from Trump regarding election administration even though Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution states that "the times, places, and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof" even though Congress can pass federal regulation.

NBC News explained that the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the wording article to mean that states have control over voter-related processes, including voter registration, supervision, among others.

Asked to elaborate, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said "President Trump cares deeply about the safety and security of our elections — that's why he's urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting."

Federal courts have prevented Trump from shaping election rules. They have prevented the administration from implementing parts of an executive order with major election changes, including the need to prove citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

Originally published on Latin Times