This one is like life imitating art. For months now, as Donald Trump’s poll numbers have sunk double digits below his Democratic opponent’s, some of…
This one is like life imitating art.
For months now, as Donald Trump’s poll numbers have sunk double digits below his Democratic opponent’s, some of us have speculated about what trick the president might pull out to shift the winds in his direction:
Wage sudden war on China, so people would fear switching presidents in wartime?
Pull in a foreign ally to interfere to his advantage?
Quit before he could be dubbed the loser?
Say what you want about this president, but he doesn’t keep you guessing too long. Trump’s own tweet Thursday revealed just what he had in mind: to spread fears of possible voting fraud and lay the groundwork to try to get the election postponed.
“With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted with no shred of evidence. “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
Never mind that there is nothing whatsoever to back his claims about prospective voting fraud; a president lacks power to delay an election. That power rests with Congress. But then, given congressional Republicans’ readiness to capitulate to Trump, from the impeachment vote to the Supreme Court confirmation processes, it’s not hard to imagine them trying to do his bidding on this, even if they were mostly dismissive of the prospect Thursday.
Fortunately that would still be hard to accomplish. It has never been done before. The Constitution requires congressional elections every two years, so the 2020 ones would still have to take place this year, and the presidential election would be the same day.
