Conservatives lashed out at former Vice President Joe Biden in April for suggesting President Donald Trump might push to delay the November election.
“Mark my words: I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said during an April 24 fundraiser, CNN reported that month, citing pool reports. Biden believes the election should not be delayed despite concerns related to COVID-19, which could impact voter turnout.
Trump posted a tweet Thursday, less than three months after Biden’s remarks, in which the president suggested the election should be pushed back until Americans can safely vote.
“With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted. “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
Relying on mail-in ballots instead of in-person voting could lead to widespread instances of fraud and negatively impact the election’s results, according to the president. Twitter placed a “fact check” label on a Trump tweet in May after the president alleged that California’s mail-in ballot is “fraudulent.”
MIDLAND, TX – JULY 29: President Donald Trump (Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images)
Only 43% of people surveyed in a Washington Post/ABC poll published on July 19 said they think there are adequate protections against potential instances of fraud. The WaPo/ABC poll also showed that 38% of Americans say they prefer to vote through mail, while another 59% want to vote in person.
Trump does not have the legal authority to determine the time and place of a general election. The United States Constitution expressly grants that power to Congress. (RELATED: Trump Floats Delaying The Election ‘Until People Can Properly, Securely And Safely Vote’)
Biden’s comments are the “incoherent, conspiracy theory ramblings of a lost candidate who is out of touch with reality,” Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, said in a statement to CNN in April, responding to Biden’s reported remarks. “President Trump has been clear that the election will happen on November 3rd.”
“Joe Biden’s conspiracy theory is irresponsible and has no basis in reality,” Matt Wolking, Trump’s re-election campaign’s deputy director of communications, wrote in an April 27 tweet.
“Biden chose to taint the president essentially with a charge of treason,” Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen wrote in April in response to Biden’s claims. “One would hope that this baseless statement could be excused as just another one of Biden’s increasingly frequent verbal hiccups.”
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