Veteran Republican strategists who have learned to appreciate President Trump’s mercurial style say there is nothing but political downside for the GOP in Trump’s tweet suggesting the November election should be delayed because of looming problems with mail-in voting.
Republican operatives uncomfortable with Trump’s rhetoric recognize value in his ability to control news cycles and manipulate opponents with controversial tweets. Raising the specter of postponing the general election so that states can prepare to process mail ballots distracted from a devastating report showing the economy shrank 32.9% in the second quarter. But GOP strategists said Trump’s Thursday morning tweet crossed a line, arguing it undermines the president’s campaign and wounds Republicans down ballot.
“Is it helpful in any way? No, of course not,” a Republican consultant said. “To put it another way: If someone set out to be deliberately self-destructive and wipe out a party 100 days before an election, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with better ways to do it.”
Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary under President George W. Bush critical of the media’s Trump coverage, also admonished the president. “This is not an idea anyone, especially POTUS, should float,” he tweeted. “Our democracy is based on elections in which everyone knows the rules and they apply to all. Election Day is and will be Nov 3, 2020. Mr. President — please don’t even pretend to mess with this. It’s a harmful idea.”
Soon after the federal government issued its review of how the economy performed in April, May, and June, Trump tweeted about the Nov. 3 election. “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” he wrote.
Trump is trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden nationally and in most battleground states, and the president’s critics accused him of making excuses for losing, or worse, of exhibiting signs of authoritarianism. In a statement, the Trump campaign said the commander in chief was merely making a point about the challenges associated with the surge in mail-in voting expected in the fall as those fearful of contracting the coronavirus avoid polling places.
“The president is just raising a question about the chaos Democrats have created with their insistence on all mail-in voting,” spokesman Hogan Gidley told CNN in a statement. “They are using coronavirus as their means to try to institute universal mail-in voting, which … invites chaos and severe delays in results, as proven by the New York congressional primary where we still don’t know who won after more than a month.”
Trump does not have the authority to delay the election. The quadrennial presidential contest is enshrined in the Constitution, and any change in the date would require an act of Congress. Even if Republicans on Capitol Hill entertained the idea, the majority Democratic House certainly would not. Additionally, elections are run by the states and municipalities, meaning even a president inclined to strong-arm the process is basically powerless to do so.
Republican strategists share some of Trump’s concerns about the fall elections. Like the president, some worry that widescale mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud. Others are concerned that state and local governments are not equipped to count an avalanche of mail ballots accurately or in a timely manner, torpedoing confidence in the results. But even these Republicans said Trump’s comments about delay are incredibly damaging.
“There’s no question we are doing the wrong thing by making this a mail-in election — it invites fraud and raises the prospect that many people will not accept the result,” said a Republican media strategist. “But it’s also undeniable that the Constitution requires the election on a fixed date. It would be a lot more productive to argue that states need to find ways to make voting safe without doing it through the mail.”
Other Republican insiders, supportive of Trump if for no other reason than that his reelection would protect the party’s Senate majority, offered a more unfettered account of their frustrations.
“It’s about as helpful as a hole in the head. Now, every down-ballot candidate will have to answer for this,” said a Republican who has advised congressional candidates. Said another Republican with relationships on Capitol Hill: “It’s crazy. If it was possible to move up the election, I’d be for that.”
