Trump blew a gasket and unleashed a series of lies as swing states that are vital to his reelection hopes have expanded mail-in voting.
Trump tweeted:
The United States cannot have all Mail In Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history. People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and “force” people to sign. Also, forge names. Some absentee OK, when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this Scam!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2020
Every single statement that Trump made in his tweet was false. People can’t grab ballots from mailboxes. The ballots can’t be forged. They are secured and marked. Signatures on ballots are checked with official signatures of file with election offices, so the signatures can’t be forged.
As Ron Brownstein pointed out, most of the swing states already allow no-excuse mail voting:
The states that likely matter most in picking winner-MI, WI, PA, NC, AZ, FL-already allow no-excuse mail balloting. It's been Rs who have stressed it most in FL, AZ. GOP planning big mail push in WI. Will Trump convince his own voters this isn't a secure or reliable way to vote? https://t.co/X9wjtNWlZY
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) May 24, 2020
Trump is blowing up because mail voting takes away the help that he gets from Russians and other foreign governments. It is much more difficult to interfere in an election when paper ballots are being returned by mail over a longer period of time.
Someone needs to tell Trump that he is actually harming himself by trashing mail voting as Republicans have been working for years to increase their support by mail-in voting. The people who Trump is most likely to discourage are those who would vote for him.
Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for a claim that Biden stole the election from him. Trump is trying to delegitimize Biden before a ballot has been cast because he knows that his presidency is doomed.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
