President Donald Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network on Thursday that he opposes injecting new funding into the U.S. Postal Service because he believes it will support mail-in voting come November.
"They [the Democrats] want three-and-a-half billion dollars for something that'll turn out to be fraudulent — that's election money basically," Trump said.
Congressman Ami Bera (D-Calif. 7th District) told Cheddar that Trump's statement reflects a transparent effort to undermine democracy by allowing the post office to go underfunded as it prepares for a potential surge in mail-in ballots.
"Kudos to the president for being honest," he said. "We knew all along that he was trying to undermine the Postal Service to try to win the election."
Bera said Democrats will continue to "use the bully pulpit" to support postal employees, and push for additional funding in the Phase 4 coronavirus relief bill, which appears nowhere near passing according to congressional leaders.
"We will continue to try to push funding there," Bera said. "We'll continue to shine the light on this."
The congressman pointed out that many of Trump's own voters are elderly, living in states that are especially hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and that denying funding to the Postal Service could have unintended consequences for both parties.
"He may unintentionally suppress his own votes," Bera said.
A New York appeals court Thursday reinstated a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he continually disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial.
Most U.S. cities would have to replace lead water pipes within 10 years under strict new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency as the Biden administration moves to reduce lead in drinking water and prevent public health crises like the ones in Flint, Michigan and Washington, D.C.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100.
Officials in a rural Arizona county who delayed canvassing the 2022 general election results have been criminally charged, the state's top prosecutor said Wednesday.
