Trump calls it 'mail-in-cheating' to vote by mail, but he does it anyway. Is anyone surprised?
News and commentary from a Florida perspective
Well, this is a bit awkward.
At least it would be for a normal person capable of feeling embarrassment.
Our commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, who has railed endlessly about the evils of mail-in voting, has just voted in a Palm Beach County special election.
And he did it using a mail-in ballot.
Yes, a mail-in ballot, a method of voting of which he said yesterday:
“Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating, and we’ve got to do something about it all.”
It’s not just cheating, Trump says, “We’re the only country in the world that does it that way. Corrupt as hell.”
This will come as a shock to many of you, I’m afraid, but our president, once again, is lying. At least 34 countries and territories around the world use what outside the United States is called “postal voting.” And the rate of fraud is so low as to be virtually nonexistent in terms of how it influences election outcomes.
In fact, the U.S. has successfully used mail-in voting since the Civil War.
Trump hates it because Democrats use it slightly more than Republicans, so eliminating mail-in ballots might help his party in the midterm elections. Studies show that 1 in 4 Democrats vote by mail compared to 1 in 5 Republicans.
Those long lines at airports right now because TSA agents aren’t getting paid? You can thank Trump for that because he is insisting that the grossly undemocratic SAVE Act be passed before he will consider allowing them to go back to work.
(That’s a little oversimplified, but it’s the essence of how he is holding the airport chaos over the Senate’s head, demanding the SAVE Act be passed.)
But today is a special election in Trump’s adoptive Palm Beach County, and rather than show up at the polls (it would be inconvenient, Tuesday is not a golfing day, so he’s out of town), he cast a mailed ballot, according to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website.
Even though he boldly proclaimed on social media:
“ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING.”
This from the huckster who tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat by urging his vice president to rig the Electoral College vote count.
So, sure, he has more experience with voting fraud than most, so give him that.
But the hypocrisy! Has he no shame?
Hahahaha.
And this is hardly the first time that Trump has availed himself of mail-in voting.
As the Washington Post reported:
“I can vote by mail," he told reporters in 2020 when pushed on how he reconciles his use of a practice he criticizes. "I’m allowed to.”
He just doesn’t want you to do it.
Related:
Five things to know about the SAVE America Act
J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a Florida online news service dedicated to sharing news and commentary relevant to Florida readers, whether it originates in the Sunshine State or elsewhere. Bruce is an award-winning former newspaper editor, journalist and author living in Florida, his native state.
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But will it get there in time to be counted? And what does he have in store to mess up USPS to cause major delays? Cynthia from Largo
So, why is it that Trump can use mail-in voting that will be unavailable to the rest of us by just saying he is "allowed to". And, you can bet that members of congress will use mail-in voting rather than go home to their voting districts. The hypocrisy is overwhelming. There is also no mention that I know of about our members of the military serving outside their voting districts or diplomats and other government employees like the CIA, serving in other countries.
Then you may have heard Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) who voted against the SAVE act noting that it would disenfranchise many Alaskans in rural areas who would have to fly in in order to go to vote at their designated poling place incurring a luge expense.
And yet our corrupt SCOTUS will likely vote to eliminate mail-in voting.