Trump does U-Turn on delaying Prez polls

US prez fails to get support from within Republicans

Washington, July 31: Donald Trump has quickly taken back his suggestion to delay November’s presidential election over alleged fraud concerns after he failed to garner support from top Republicans. Seeking a second consecutive term, Trump is facing a formidable challenge from Democratic nominee and former vice president Joe Biden, who, according to major national opinion polls, has double digit lead over the Republican president.

The presidential election date in the US statutorily is set as “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November” equalling “the first Tuesday after November 1”. Trump on Thursday for the first time openly floated the idea of postponing the presidential elections on November 3, citing irregularities in the mail-in vote.

The suggestion was immediately criticised by leaders of the opposition Democratic Party. He also failed to garner support from his own Republican Party. Later in the day, Trump walked back on his suggestion. “I don’t want to delay. I want to have the election. But I also don't want to have to wait for three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn't mean anything,” Trump told reporters at a news conference when asked about his tweet suggesting election be delayed.

“With Universal MailIn Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most Inaccurate & Frudulent Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” he tweeted on Thursday morning.

Reacting to Trump’s suggestion, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally, said when asked about the President’s call to delay the election: “I don’t think that’s a particularly good idea.” Graham said he believed Trump’s “concerns about mail-in voting are valid, but delaying the election is not the right answer.”

Majority Whip Senator John Thune, a member of Republican leadership, said that there will be an election in November despite the President’s tweet. “I think that’s probably a statement that gets some press attention, but I doubt it gets any serious traction,” he said. “I think we've had elections every November since about 1788, and I expect that will be the case again this year,” he said.

“We’ve had elections during wars. We’ve had elections during depressions. We've had elections during civil unrest,” Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee told reporters. “We should have our election when it’s scheduled in November, and I'm sure we will.”