Nancy Pelosi Says Donald Trump Floated Delaying Election To ‘Suppress The Vote’
In an interview with CNN broadcast on Friday, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi discussed President Donald Trump’s recent suggestion to delay the November presidential election, The Hill reported.
While railing against mail-in voting, Trump argued that the election needs to be postponed in order to protect public health and safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The reason he does it is because the more people hear something like that, the more they’re discouraged to vote,” Pelosi told anchor Brianna Keilar.
“It’s a way to suppress the vote.”
Pelosi pointed out that Trump proposed delaying the November contest on Thursday, right before civil rights icon John Lewis’ funeral.
“At the same time as we are burying a hero of voting rights, our democracy, he goes out and says something beneath the dignity of the White House. But he does that almost every day, beneath the dignity of the presidency,” she said.
Trump — who voted absentee in the Republican Party primaries earlier this year — has long argued against vote-by-mail, warning of possible voter fraud.
On the day of Lewis’ funeral, he also took a shot at former President Barack Obama, claiming to have done more for African Americans and other minority groups.
The commander-in-chief did not attend the late congressman’s funeral. Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did. Each of them held a speech praising the legendary civil rights leader for the contributions he made in the fight against racial inequality.
Pelosi pointed out that three of Trump’s predecessors took the time to speak highly of Lewis, taking a shot at Trump’s weight.
“You would think that there would be an ounce, in that big frame, of decency to say something about the importance of voting in our democracy, instead of criticizing somebody else’s eulogy,” Pelosi said.
Per BBC, studies have shown that vote-by-mail systems are, in fact, not vulnerable to manipulation. For instance, according to research from the Brennan Center for Justice, the overall rate of voter fraud in the United States is between 0.00004 percent and 0.0009 percent.
Similarly, a study conducted by Arizona State University established that there were only 491 cases of postal ballot fraud between 2000 and 2012.
As the publication noted, states are allowed to create their own rules for federal elections. Hawaii, California, Utah, Washington, Oregon and Colorado have already switched to all-mail ballot elections.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Trump’s Thursday proposal was swiftly rejected by both Democrats and Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and dozens of other Republicans pushed back against the president’s suggestion, saying that the election will be held on November 3.
