August 13, 202011:49 AM ET
Barbara Sprunt
While President Trump has long railed against mail-in voting, falsely claiming it leads to rampant fraud, he appeared to confirm Thursday morning that he opposes Democrats' proposed boost in funding for the U.S. Postal Service because he wants to make it harder to expand voting by mail.
Trump gave that explanation during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network after she asked why the White House and congressional Democrats are still miles apart on approving a new stimulus deal.
Trump said one major factor is the Democrats' push for an injection of funds into the U.S. Postal Service to expand voting by mail.
Continued the president: "They want $25 billion for the post office. Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. Now, in the meantime, they aren't getting there. But if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it."
Eight states are mailing ballots to all active voters this fall, including six that have been doing so for years, but most states are not conducting what Trump calls universal mail-in voting.
Continued Trump: "If we don't make a deal, that means they don't get the money. That means they can't have universal mail-in voting. They just can't have it."
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Experts have estimated that as many as 70% of votes could be cast by mail in this election cycle because of disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. That has raised questions about the long-beleaguered Postal Service, which was losing money well before the COVID-19 disaster and has been put into an even more difficult position.
Although Trump asserted in his interview with Fox that there's "nothing wrong with getting out and voting," citing people who voted during the first and second world wars, health experts say that voting by mail could reduce voters' exposure and spread of the coronavirus.
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