US president Donald Trump appeared to admit he is attempting to undermine the country’s postal service by blocking funding for the agency, which is expected to deal with a rush of mail-in ballots during this election season.
“Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” he said Thursday in an interview on Fox Business. “But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting.”
Trump has repeatedly spread conspiracy theories about mail-in voting and has suggested he’ll cast doubt on the results of the November election. States are working to increase their capacity for mail-in voting, as many Americans are expected to vote by mail this fall because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Election watchdog and voting rights groups are deeply concerned that Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting and the US Postal Service will result in increased voter suppression.
At a press conference Wednesday, Trump gave similar reasons for why he would not approve emergency congressional funding for the cash-strapped and backlogged agency.
“They don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it, I guess, right?” Trump said. “Are they going to do it, even if they don’t have the money?”
He also claimed the election would “be the great rigged election in history” and “one of the greatest frauds in history.”