His words about the election were meant to explain the minus vote by mail, the American leader explained.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he did not want to postpone the general elections scheduled for November in the country.
Speaking at a briefing for journalists in the White House, he criticized the mail vote again.
“I just feel like I don’t want to postpone [the election]. I want the election to be [in November], but I also don’t want to wait three months [for their results] and then find out that all the [mailed] ballots are gone and the election means nothing. Here is what will happen [in the case of a vote by mail]. This is common sense”, – the president explained.
“Everyone knows that. Smart people know it, stupid people may not know it, and some people do not want to talk about it, but they know it”, – added the president.
A laughingstock to the whole world
The head of the Washington administration stressed that he wants an election, during which the Americans come to the polls, including those with absentee certificates, to indicate their name and sign the corresponding document.
“I have been doing this for many years”, – said the White House head.
He called the voting by mail “extremely unfair to the United States.
“If this [mail vote] happens, our country will become a laughing stock for the whole world, because everyone knows that it won’t work”, – said the head of state.
He said he was surprised to learn about the criticism of voting by mail in the American media.
“This is a disaster. We are asking for trouble. Do I want to reschedule [the election]? No, but I don’t want a dishonest election. If this [mail-order voting] happens, this election will be the most rigged election ever”, – concluded the American leader.
Trump also said that his Twitter posting about the possibility of postponing the general elections in the U.S. in November was intended to explain the shortcomings of the vote by mail.
“I wanted to explain to people, but it doesn’t even require much explanation, <…> that what happens in November will be a mess”, – he said at a briefing for journalists at the White House on Thursday. According to Trump, a similar situation has already taken place during this year’s primary elections (primaries). – “Tens of thousands of ballots sent by mail were not counted during this year’s primaries”, – he read the headline of The Washington Post as an example. – “They are lying media, but in this case it is not a lie, it is the truth”, – the president added.
According to the U.S. leader, the results due to the mail vote can only be known “a week after November 3, or a month, or, frankly, given all the subsequent proceedings and so on, years. This situation, in his opinion, is unacceptable. “Or no one will ever know who won the election at all”, – he stressed.
Trump said, however, that he has nothing against voting with absentee coupons.
“We are not talking about voting with absentee coupons. This is different”, – he said. – “I’m voting on my own absentee coupon because I can’t be in Florida because I’m in Washington, D.C., in the White House”, – said the American leader. Trump previously changed his permanent residence from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter on Thursday suggested considering postponing the elections in connection with the spread of coronavirus in the country. According to the American leader, given the constantly criticized vote by mail, elections in 2020 may become the most unreliable and dishonest in history.
The real possibility of a postponement
As previously warned by American experts and lawyers in connection with the pandemic, in reality the scenario of a potential election postponement is virtually impossible. It would require changes in federal electoral law. According to the 1845 Presidential Election Day Act, voting takes place “on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November”. The postponement of the election date would therefore require the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to approve the bill and sign it with Trump. However, it is hardly an exaggeration to say that a consensus on this key issue between Republican Trump and the opposition Democratic Party, which at this stage has a majority in the House of Representatives, is possible only as a last resort.
With the cancellation of the elections, it is even more difficult. The 20th amendment to the US Constitution stipulates that the powers of the president and vice president will expire “at noon on January 20” (four years after taking office). That is, even if the elections were canceled, Trump and his vice president Michael Pence would lose their powers. As American experts state, it is virtually impossible to violate all these norms. The 59th presidential election in the USA is scheduled for November 3.