Donald Trump has suggested delaying November’s US presidential election which he claimed will be “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT election in history”.
In a typically bombastic tweet, the president said it would be “a great embarrassment for to the USA” before adding: “Delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
Can he do that?
First things first, Trump does not have the power to postpone the presidential election.
It is technically possible to change the law to accommodate it but it would require the approval of both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Democrats are currently in charge of the House and there is absolutely no chance of them going for it.
So what’s he playing at?
Trump is trailing in the polls to his Democratic rival Joe Biden, and trailing by a lot.
His presidency has been upended by the coronavirus crisis. One person in the US died about every minute from Covid-19 on Wednesday as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world.
Trump has already stated that he might not accept the result of the election if he loses and he has singled out one aspect of the election which he is targeting with the very same kind of disinformation US authorities have warned foreign adversaries could use to foment doubt in the voting process.
What’s that then?
Mail-in voting.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, mail-in voting is seen as a one of the safest ways to conduct polling.
For weeks now Trump has tweeted multiple times, unfounded claims that it will lead to a “RIGGED ELECTION” as foreign countries try and hijack his presidency.
Will it?
No.
There are multiple safeguards in place and mail-in voting has been used for decades without any problems.
So why does he keep calling it out?
Possibly because he is afraid he’s going to lose and is preempting his own defeat.
“It’s a way of trying to turn the foreign interference claims that have been made on their head,” said Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine told PA Media.
“Typically we’ve heard that the Russian government and others were working to help elect Trump, and here is Trump using fears of foreign interference as a way of bolstering his own side.
“This potentially lays the groundwork,” he added, “for him contesting election results.”