Washington, D.C. – Today, Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, issued the following response to President Donald Trump’s tweets about delaying the presidential election:
President Trump is doing everything possible to disrupt and delegitimize the November election as he faces news that the U.S. economy saw the largest quarterly decline in recorded history. But the simple fact is that the president has no authority to delay the election. Trump knows that voting by mail is a safe and effective way to cast a ballot—in fact, he has voted that way himself. His policies have failed, his support is tanking, and rather than addressing the raging pandemic, his biggest concern is stopping people from voting. The fact that Trump is demanding that every school and business open immediately while he attempts to shut down our democracy makes clear how cynical and authoritarian this suggestion is.
While Trump is focused on disrupting the election, Congress must focus on protecting it. States need money now to make sure that they are fully prepared to run an election during a pandemic so that everyone can vote safely, whether by mail or in person. Trump is a traitor to our democracy. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Senate majority have to make a choice: Protect American democracy and pass full election funding, or follow Trump down this dark authoritarian path.
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