Trump suggests delaying presidential election as dire economic data released

Donald Trump on Thursday morning floated the idea of delaying November’s presidential election, justifying the extraordinary suggestion by repeating his false claim that widespread voting by mail from home would result in a “fraudulent” result.

Trump’s incendiary proposal was dropped in a Thursday morning tweet, as the US was reeling from bad economic news, digesting the death toll of 150,000 having been reached in the coronavirus pandemic and preparing for the funeral of Congressman John Lewis in Atlanta. In it he claimed without evidence that “universal mail-in voting” would lead to “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT election in history”.

Trump, pontificating that the result would be a “great embarrassment to the USA”, he raised the prospect of a postponement. “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” he tweeted.

The idea that the US president should suggest a delay in a ballot that will decide whether or not he stays in the White House for another four years is certain to inflame fears that he is preparing for a fierce battle that could threaten the integrity of US democracy. Recent polls have him falling significantly behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Trump has already indicated that he might not accept a Biden victory on election day, 3 November. In a recent interview with Fox News Sunday he declined to commit to abiding by the results.

The idea that voting from home in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic would lead to an explosion of fraud has become a growing theme for Trump. Most states have a long history of administering mail-in voting, without any significant incidence of fraud.

Trump himself and numerous members of his administration, including Vice-President Mike Pence, have voted by mail.

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Source: Elections - theguardian.com