Even though Trump and the first lady will be voting by mail, POTUS is taking steps to make it difficult for others to do the same.
For months now, Trump — whose entire staff has voted by mail — has been complaining about potential “massive” fraud for mail-in ballots in the 2020 general election.
He opposes additional funding for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and he has acknowledged that his position would block money the agency needs to process an anticipated surge in mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.
Without the funding, Trump admitted that it would make it more difficult for the USPS to deliver mail-in ballots.
Trump’s move is expected to hurt Democratic voters, who are more apt to submit mail-in votes than Republican voters. One in five Republicans polled said they would vote by mail, The Washington Post reported.
During his announcement, Trump also falsely stated that Democrats were promoting universal mail-in voting. His decision came on the heels of polls that indicate his presidential opponent Joe Biden had a substantial lead.
Trump told Fox Business Network that Democrats are demanding billions of dollars to assist states in protecting the election and to help postal workers process mail-in ballots, KRON 4 reported.
“They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said on “Mornings with Maria,” adding, “If they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting because they’re not equipped to have it.”
Biden’s campaign immediately shot back.
“The President of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years,” Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.
Negotiations over a new virus relief package have stalled. In that package, Democrats demand emergency funds to help the Postal Service and election security ahead of the November election.
“They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent. That’s election money, basically,” Trump said during the interview.
“They want $25 billion – billion – for the post office,” he said, adding that, without it, the Postal Service won’t be equipped to handle the influx of mail-in ballots.
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Congress has allocated just $400 million to help states run elections — a small fraction of the $4 billion that estimates indicate will be needed this year, The Guardian reported.
The postal service has warned that mail-in ballots in 46 states may not be delivered in time. Six states—Vermont, Utah, Washington, California, Hawaii, and Colorado, plus D.C.—have been warned that a “narrow set of voters” could have their ballots delayed. Forty states have been issued “heightened warnings” about the possibility of ballots arriving after the deadline, Forbes reported.
Read more: 5 Reasons Democrats Should Be Deeply Concerned About Black Voter Turnout In November
