Critics Point Out Exactly What Donald Trump Is Trying To Hide With Election Delay Stunt
Donald Trump’s critics dismissed his idea of delaying the 2020 election as nothing more than a distraction ― and then pointed out what the president was likely trying to hide with the stunt.
Trump in a tweet on Thursday floated the idea of delaying the vote in November, repeating his unfounded claim about mail-in voter fraud.
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020
Senators, former government officials, cable news hosts and others explained that Trump has no power to delay the election. Many top Republicans quickly rejected his suggestion.
Some commentators also pointed out what Trump was really trying to do with the tweet: divert attention from his administration’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting cratering of the U.S. economy, which experienced its worst drop on record in the second quarter of 2020.
At least 150,000 people in the United States have now died from COVID-19.
“Don’t waste time on this Trump ploy to distract from terrible economy+COVID numbers,” warned Neal Katyal, who served as acting solicitor general under former President Barack Obama.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo, meanwhile, urged viewers to “pay no mind to the president’s ‘delay the election’ flash-bangs to disorient you.”
Some senators and House representatives described Trump’s idea as unconstitutional.
Donald Trump doesn’t have the authority to do this—but that doesn’t make what he’s doing any less dangerous. It’s clear he will stop at nothing to spread misinformation and sow division to distract from the mess he’s created. This is what we’re up against.https://t.co/VhJzKc3YTb
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) July 30, 2020