The Wall Street Journal editorial board slammed President Donald Trump Friday over a tweet where he wondered if the 2020 election should be delayed.
Trump tweeted Thursday wondering if America should “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” The question was met with backlash from many, with some reminding him and the American public that the president doesn’t have the power to change an election date.
Following the tweet, the WSJ editorial board said that Trump was likely “merely raising the issue,” but shut down his comments, noting that it doesn’t help his upcoming election. The board also called Trump’s suggestion “dreadful.”
“Mr. Trump’s opponents—from the media to [former Vice President] Joe Biden—have planted the thought that he won’t accept the results or would try to put off the vote,” the editorial board wrote. “How he helps himself by keeping such disruption narratives in the public’s mind remains a mystery.”
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???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020
The editorial board continued on to hit back at Trump’s concern that the election will be “rigged” because of mail-in voting, pointing out “that many states have used mailed ballots for years without serious incident.” It did point out criticisms of mail-in voting, writing that it is “bordering on the fantastic” for media “to blandly say voting in a major election using the U.S. Postal Service is no problem.”
Despite pointing out valid concerns over mail-in voting, the editorial board suggested the president should not run if he plans to use mail-in voting as “an excuse to blame for defeat.” (RELATED: Trump Floats Delaying The Election ‘Until People Can Properly, Securely And Safely Vote’)
“This is not to suggest that the November election will be ‘rigged,’ as Mr. Trump asserts,” the editorial board noted after bringing up concerns over the practice. “If he believes that, he should reconsider his participation and let someone run who isn’t looking for an excuse to blame for defeat.”
“But Democrats and their allies are doing a disservice to the integrity of this election by being willfully blind to the challenges posed by the pandemic. If the presidential result is close in one or more states amid the kind of problems displayed in New York, either candidate surely will sue, making the Florida “hanging-chads” recount in 2000 look like a kindergarten exercise.”