After repeatedly emphasizing the risks of voting by mail, President Trump praised Florida’s “terrific” mail-in ballot system as “Safe and Secure, Tried and True” in remarks at the White House and on social media.
“They’ve been doing this over many years, and they’ve made it really terrific,” Trump said in a White House news conference on Tuesday, explaining why some states were better prepared than others to handle a massive distance voting effort in November. “In maybe a couple of other states they’ve worked out a system, but this took years to do. This doesn’t take weeks or months.”
Trump credited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for the battleground state’s “so well-run” administration.
“Florida’s a very well-run state, low taxes, low everything,” he added.
The president has claimed in interviews and on social media that mail-in voting could “rig” the November election, calling it “one of the biggest risks I have.” Record numbers of people are expected to vote by mail this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a tweet earlier Tuesday, Trump encouraged Florida voters to submit ballots by mail.
“Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail! #MAGA.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany stressed the distinction between “mass mail-out voting” and requested absentee ballots, an important difference, she said, with the former lending “ample examples of fraud.”
Tuesday’s comments come amid a court victory in Florida for the president’s reelection campaign, rebuffing a lawsuit by liberal-leaning groups against the state’s voting laws. In Florida, 15% of voters typically vote by mail, and elections are often won by slim margins. Polls currently show Trump trailing his likely Democrat opponent Joe Biden in the state.
The Trump campaign has also resumed advertising in four states that cast a majority of ballots early or absentee in 2016, including Florida.
