And if even the statement of Mr. Ginsburg is not good enough for you, here is what the Trump administration's own voting integrity commission reported. According to an analysis of administration documents by the Associated Press, Trump's commission uncovered "no evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud," and disbanded in 2018.
Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tamped down concerns about mail-in ballots last month, saying "Many parts of our country vote by mail. Oregon, Washington and Colorado have voted by mail for years."
And yet we have a president who calls mail-in ballots "a hoax" and "a scam."
Trump's strategy to delegitimize this election and to stay in office if he loses is not complicated. Finding himself behind in many polls, he is attempting massive voter suppression. He and his Republican colleagues are doing everything they can to make it harder and harder for people to vote. In addition, he is sowing the seeds of chaos, confusion and conspiracy theories by casting doubt on the integrity of this election and, if he loses, justifying why he should remain in office.
In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, Trump refused to say that he would leave office if he lost. Asked to give a direct answer on whether he would accept the election results, Trump refused. He said, "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no, and I didn't last time either." Pretty much what he said yesterday.
In the middle of a pandemic Trump made clear that he wants to defund the Postal Service in order to limit the use of mail-in ballots. In an interview on August 13, discussing a possible deal for a relief package that would have funded the post office, Trump let the cat out of the bag by admitting that, "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."
In other words, what Trump is saying to tens of millions of Americans is that at a time when over 200,000 people have already died from the coronavirus, you have a choice: You can either risk your health or even your life by walking into a voting booth, or you can't vote. How disgusting is that?
Amazingly, at the very same time Trump is making completely baseless allegations about voter fraud, last month he urged his supporters in North Carolina to try voting twice, which is a felony.
In order to advance his plan for mass voter suppression, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Nevada, which fortunately was dismissed, challenging the state's mail-in voting laws.
In July, Trump used false claims of voter fraud to propose delaying this year's election, which he does not have the power to do. This was so outrageous that Steven Calabresi, the co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society, wrote that it was "grounds for the president's immediate impeachment again by the House of Representatives and his removal from office by the Senate."
Last week, Trump told his supporters at a rally in Nevada that he "was entitled" to serve a third term, which is obviously a violation of the Constitution's 22nd Amendment.
On Saturday, Trump suggested to his supporters in North Carolina that he might sign an executive order to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.
Trump has also urged his supporters to become "poll watchers," but what he is really saying is he wants his supporters, some of whom are members of armed militias, to intimidate voters. We're already seeing this in Virginia, where early voters were confronted by Trump supporters, and election officials in Fairfax County said that some voters and polling staff felt intimidated.
On and on it goes. Every day, over and over again, Trump is making it harder for the American people to participate in the political process and is attempting to delegitimize the outcome of this election so that if he loses he can remain in office.
The concerns that I am raising today are not just mine alone, and are not just concerns shared by progressives and Democrats.
Miles Taylor, a lifelong Republican who previously served as chief of staff inside the Trump administration's Department of Homeland Security, warned that there is nothing that Trump will not do or say to defeat Biden.
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