Trump doubles down on possible delay to 2020 election

‘Do I want to see a date change? No, but I don’t want to see a crooked election’

Donald Trump has doubled down on his proposal to delay the November election, claiming – contrary to all evidence – that absentee voting is prone to fraud.

Trailing badly in the polls to presumptive Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Mr Trump posted a tweet which said voting by mail, which many states are likely to use because of the pandemic, would result in a “fraudulent” vote.

“It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???,” he added.

The comments were widely condemned, not only by political rivals, but by senior members of his own party.

They were also criticised by election experts who said there was minimal evidence that absentee voting, which Mr Trump used himself to vote in Florida’s Republican primary earlier this year, is vulnerable to attack.

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On Thursday evening, briefing the media about the latest developments about the spread of coronavirus, which has now resulted in more than 150,000 deaths in the US, the president was asked if he wanted to delay the election.

“I want an election and a result, much, much more than you,” he said at the White House.

“I don’t want to delay. I want to have the election. But I also don’t want to have to wait three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing, and the election doesn’t mean anything.”

The president cited recent media reports about potential problems with mail-in ballots arriving late and said it could take weeks, months or even years to sort it out.

“Do I want to see a date change? No, but I don’t want to see a crooked election,” he said.

Many pointed out that the date of a presidential election, held once every four years, is enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change.

Top Republicans in Congress quickly rebuffed Mr Trump’s suggestion – a rare criticism of the president, which may have been an indication of how they rate his chances of re-election.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the election date was set in stone and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said the election “should go forward” as planned.

After facing blowback from Republicans for even floating the notion, Mr Trump appeared to retreat on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, suggesting he was merely trying to highlight alleged problems with mail-in balloting.

In fact, only five states conduct elections entirely by mail, although more states expect to rely more heavily on mail-in ballots in November because of the virus outbreak. California has announced plans to send ballots to all registered voters for the fall election, but will also have in-person voting options available.

Experts assess that delays in counting mail-in ballots could mean results will not be known on Election Day.

Experts also said Mr Trump’s comments reflected a political landscape that looks very dark for him.

A poll published on Thursday by Investors Business Daily gave Mr Biden a seven-point lead over the president. Mr Trump has been losing support as opinion over his handling of the pandemic has soured further and the threats to the economy worsened.

Indeed, his initial suggestion of delaying the vote came minutes after the government reported that the US economy shrank at 32.9 per cent annual rate in the April-June quarter, by far the worst quarterly plunge ever, as the coronavirus outbreak shut down businesses, threw tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to almost 15 per cent.

Additional reporting by agencies