Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump to pardon Susan B. Anthony
President marks centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment with ceremony at the White House.
YUMA, Ariz. — Grappling for votes — and the spotlight — as Democrats hold their national convention, President Donald Trump targeted voters in key states and constituencies Tuesday and promised a pardon for Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.
Trump flew to Arizona, one of the top 2020 battleground states, to press his case against his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, painting him as radically left in one of his harshest broadsides yet of the campaign.
“The Biden plan would unleash a flood of illegal immigration like the world has never seen before — it would be a torrent of biblical proportions,” Trump was to say, as he prepared to accept the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council. “Biden’s plan is the most radical, extreme, reckless, dangerous and deadly immigration plan ever put forward by a major party candidate.”
With his second trip in two days, Trump was hoping to mitigate a convention polling bump for his rival and to shore up support by contrasting his position with Biden’s on immigration, one of the most important issues to his political base. He was also trying to stanch an erosion in support among female voters with a symbolic nod on the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
In recent weeks, Trump has been trying to build support within the pivotal female voter constituency and has stepped up his events aimed at women. His campaign has launched a “women for Trump” bus tour, and the president has embraced a “law and order” message with renewed vigor.
The president worked in a last-minute stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a briefing about damage from the derecho last week that has left thousands without power and caused catastrophic damage across the battleground state. Many there have expressed outrage that their plight has not received more national attention.
The storm, which packed 100 mph winds and similar power to an inland hurricane, swept across the Midwest last week, causing widespread damage.
“We’ve come through for you, and we will always come through for Iowa,” Trump said, as the city’s mayor urged him to consider enhanced federal disaster funding for people there.
Before leaving Washington, Trump held a White House event to announce the pardon of Anthony, convicted of voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote. But he quickly pivoted to the upcoming election and the issue of voting by mail.
“Win, lose or draw, we have to get it right,” Trump said of the November vote count, leveling a fresh offensive against mail-in voting.
Voter fraud has proved rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections.
Trump’s pardon announcement came on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ensured women the right to vote.