'Because I'm president': Trump struggles to defend casting a mail-in ballot

President Donald Trump struggled to explain why he cast a mail-in ballot after insisting the practice amounted to election fraud.

The president fielded a question about his voting habits during a White House cabinet meeting on Thursday.

"Tell me about mail-in ballots," Trump said as he called one a reporter. "You may not use the mail-in ballot. You probably said, 'yeah, I did.' You know what? Because I'm president of the United States, and because of the fact that I'm president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida."

"Because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine," Trump said.

The reporter noted that Trump could have voted early because he spent the last few weekends in Palm Beach, Florida.

"That's right. And I, yeah. And I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn't be there because I had a lot of different things," the president snapped. "But you know, we have exceptions for mail-in ballots. You do know that, right? So if you're away, we have an exception. If you're in the military, we have an exception. If you're on a business trip, we have an exception. If you're disabled, we have an exception, or you're ill. If you're not feeling good."

"So I was away mostly in Washington, D.C., so I used the mail-in ballot. But I appreciate the question, because I know it was so well-meaning," he added sarcastically.