Donald Trump’s recent attacks on free and fair elections, which have always included mail-in ballots, are not helping him politically. In fact, in key swing states needed by Trump to win in 2020, voters are being warned about his efforts to attack the postal service and thwart mail-in voting.
Check out the front page of major newspapers in the six closest states Trump won in 2016. All had stories about the mail and voting. https://t.co/Xnddyt8IQMhttps://t.co/rq8TtlYnjahttps://t.co/oD38aDEwZahttps://t.co/yLuOn4YL0vhttps://t.co/NrU54fXF00https://t.co/Rgh25X93vx
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) August 15, 2020
Trump needs the electoral college votes of some combination of six states that he barely won in 2016 in order to beat Joe Biden: Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Michigan. Major newspapers in each state ran front page stories on Saturday warning voters against Trump’s election interference. In each of those states, Trump currently polls behind his challenger, Joe Biden, and in some of those states by a significant number of voters.
The Tampa Bay Times in Florida ran an article on its front page titled “Mail-in votes are threatened” as its lead story. Trump won Florida by just 1.2 percent in 2016 and is currently losing to Biden in polls by six points.
Florida @CNBC/@ChangePolls:
Biden 50% (+6)
Trump 44%— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) August 12, 2020
The Charlotte Observer ran a lead story titled “NC voters urged to request, mail absentee ballots earlier.” Trump won North Carolina in 2016 by 3.2 points over Hillary Clinton and is currently losing to Biden by one point.
North Carolina Poll:
Biden 45% (+1)
Trump 44%
3rd Party 4%@HarperPolling/@NCCivitas (R)— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) August 13, 2020
The Arizona Republic ran a front page story titled “Postal service warns 46 states about ballot delays.” Trump won in Arizona by nearly four points in 2016 and is behind in polls against Biden there by four percent.
#NEW Arizona Poll:
Biden 49 (+4)
Trump 45%@EmersonPolling— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) August 11, 2020
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel‘s lead story warned that “USPS warns ballot delivery at risk.” Trump won in Wisconsin by less than one percent in 2016, and is five percent behind Biden in the latest polls.
Biden 49% (+5)
Trump 44%— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) August 11, 2020
The Detroit Free Press pointed to problems in the 2018 primaries to warn voters ahead of November’s vote, saying “More than 10,000 Mich. ballots did not count.” Michigan is a key swing state for Trump, which he won in 2016 by just 0.3 percent over Hillary Clinton, and he currently stands four points behind Biden in polls.
MICHIGAN
Biden 47% (+4)
Trump 43%@YouGovAmerica/@ElectionsCenter 7/27-8/6— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) August 10, 2020
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran as its lead story an article titled “Murphy: Mail-In Ballots for All,” referring to … Trump won Pennsylvania by just 0.7 percent of the vote in 2016, and is behind by the largest margin currently in that swing state by a full nine percent.
Biden big lead in #Pennsylvania poll by @EmersonPolling#Trump 43#Biden 52(+9)https://t.co/zb9TPyLFN0
— Inside Polling (@insidepolling1) August 11, 2020
It’s unclear what Trump’s strategy is at this point. If restricting mail-in ballots hurts him politically, what is the purpose of it? While it’s true that higher voter turnout tends to favor Democrats, the answer could also be that Trump expects to lose and is preparing a defense for delegitimizing the 2020 election results.
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