Journalists and Media Figures React with Alarm to Trump’s ‘Deadly Serious’ Election Delay Tweet
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President Donald Trump’s tweeted suggestion that the 2020 election be delayed caused widespread alarm on social media from journalists and other media and political figures.
On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted false claims about mail-in voting, then wrote “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
The suggestion caused shock, alarm, and some rapid-fire political and legal analysis from journalists and others who tweeted their reactions, many of them members of the White House press corps.
Several consensuses emerged, among them that Trump is trying to distract from the record-shattering 33% GDP drop, that he doesn’t have the power to delay the election, that the twet should not be taken lightly, and that Trump’s claims about mail-in voting are wholly unsupported.
Here we go: Trump tweets on delaying the election. Schools must open up but should we think about delaying the election? pic.twitter.com/kTkDjqZnne
— joe johns (@joejohnscnn) July 30, 2020
Trump floating a delay of the election may be a distraction from the GDP news. But it still is deadly serious. GOP lawmakers saying they haven’t seen or don’t respond to his tweet won’t particularly cut it today
— Sam Stein (@samstein) July 30, 2020
It’s worth noting this was sent 16 minutes after historically terrible GDP numbers came out and after the release of new unemployment data indicating first time claims are once again rising. https://t.co/4RDgUhQEit
— Tamara Keith (@tamarakeithNPR) July 30, 2020
People need to push back on trump trying to Delay the election. This may start as a dumb tweet but if Americans don’t push back….
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) July 30, 2020
Coincidence that Trump is tweeting about delaying the election right as we get the worst GDP numbers in recorded U.S. history?
— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) July 30, 2020
“Delay the Election … ???” Trump says, floating the idea minutes after the bad news that the U.S. economy shrank at a record 32.9% pace. https://t.co/vQlQASp2Sk
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 30, 2020
Horrible GDP numbers come out.
<glass shattering sound>
President Trump pulls special phone out from the shards of glass, tossing aside the “Break Glass For Emergency Distraction Sign”
Hits “Send” on delay-the-election trial balloon tweet.— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 30, 2020
“Trump…is powerless to reschedule the general election set for Nov. 3.
The date of the general election-1st Tues of November-has been a matter of federal law since 1845: Congress would have to pass new legislation to change the voting schedule.” @benychttps://t.co/ZQeTqn0cOc https://t.co/ZTtLx4OJNf
— Karen Travers (@karentravers) July 30, 2020
Trump is powerless to reschedule the general election set for Nov. 3. That’s b/c the date has been a matter of federal law since 1845: Congress would have to pass new legislation to change the voting sked, something experts say is extremely unlikely @benyc https://t.co/iVQ7iST37j
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) July 30, 2020
Trump is now openly floating delaying the election. https://t.co/0u1bQtgbr3
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 30, 2020
Trump cannot delay the election, but here he is explicitly saying that he wants to do just that. https://t.co/xnnBTUwvaO
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) July 30, 2020
For anyone missing the context, the US economy was confirmed to have undergone its worst contraction ever about 15 minutes before he tweeted https://t.co/bzBhRhUn8b
— Louis Ashworth (@Louis_Ashworth) July 30, 2020
Re-upping this from the Trump admin’s top official on securing voting, @CISAKrebs, talking about how mail-in voting is NOT “an easy way for foreign countries to enter the race”: https://t.co/5iHQLdT1MF
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) July 30, 2020
Election Day for presidential and vice presidential contests is in statute from 1845. Delaying is not in the cards, but undermining confidence in the 2020 election results is on Trump’s mind. A lot. https://t.co/XIgweQNqwe https://t.co/xD9kD9pX7j
— Alexis Simendinger (@ASimendinger) July 30, 2020
AG Bill Barr was asked if the president had the power to do this at Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Actually I haven’t looked into that question under the Constitution. I’ve never been asked the question before, I’ve never looked into it.”https://t.co/KMAVrpk1zE
— Nikki Schwab (@NikkiSchwab) July 30, 2020
Specifically, 3 USC 1.
The presidential election has been held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November since 1848. https://t.co/nQwWmY4nhO
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) July 30, 2020
The President sent this out about 15 minutes after this news: The U.S. economy suffered its worst period ever in the second quarter, with GDP falling 32.9%. https://t.co/SETeezZqsA
— Dafna Linzer (@DafnaLinzer) July 30, 2020
Some also connected the tweet to the late John Lewis, whose funeral is imminent, and who published a posthumous op-ed that addressed protecting the right to vote, one of the great causes of his lifetime.
“Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.” —John Lewis, in his final NYT op-ed. https://t.co/thHSS6Lp2Q
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) July 30, 2020
“This John Lewis funeral is going to get all the media attention today. What can I do to stop that and bring it back to me? There must be something.”
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 30, 2020
Many users, including CNN’s Jake Tapper and several members of the Biden campaign, reminded folks about former Vice President Joe Biden’s April prediction that Trump would attempt to “kick back the election.”
Biden said in April: “Mark my words: I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held.” https://t.co/l9hamLrzt2
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 30, 2020
Great thread here of conservatives attacking Biden in April for suggesting that Trump wants to delay the election. https://t.co/eydlwK1HMk
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) July 30, 2020
— Jamal Brown (@JTOBrown) July 30, 2020
— Bill Russo (@BillR) July 30, 2020
California Senator Kamala Harris diagnosed Trump’s effort as a sign of desperation, writing “Donald Trump is terrified. He knows he’s going to lose to @JoeBiden. It will require every single one of us to make that happen.”
“We will see you at the ballot box on November 3rd, @realDonaldTrump.”, she added.
Donald Trump is terrified. He knows he’s going to lose to @JoeBiden. It will require every single one of us to make that happen.
We will see you at the ballot box on November 3rd, @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/GeEH6Csvym
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 30, 2020
Others insisted that elected Republicans condemn the move.
Every fucking Congressional Republican needs to be asked today about Trump’s suggestion to delay the election. Every single gutless Republican needs to be put on the record. Immediately.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 30, 2020
Every GOP official should be put on the record on this today.
Simple yes or no answer.
“Should we delay the election?”
Watch how many of them say, “What is Twitter?” “Donald Who?” “I haven’t seen the tweet.” “Ya ne govoryu po angliyski.” “I’m late for lunch.”
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 30, 2020
Trump floats the idea of delaying the election. If Republican leaders across the board–including Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy–don’t unequivocally speak up now against this, it will be impossible to make the (already tenuous) case that today’s GOP might be worth saving. https://t.co/hgwrR3Imt7
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 30, 2020
This is not an idea anyone, especially POTUS, should float. Our democracy is based on elections in which everyone knows the rules and they apply to all. Election Day is and will be Nov 3, 2020. Mr. President – please don’t even pretend to mess with this. It’s a harmful idea. https://t.co/bbBJbkNigV
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) July 30, 2020
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