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.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced Thursday that he won’t seek reelection in 2024, giving Republicans a prime opportunity to pick up a seat in the heavily GOP state.
Authorities on Thursday were trying to determine who sent letters filled with fentanyl or other substances to local election offices, an attack that appears to have targeted multiple states in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country.
The White House said Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting.
Columnist and political analyst Jonathan Harris joined Cheddar News to break down what stood out from Wednesday's third Republican presidential primary debate.
Mississippi's largest county ran out of ballots during Wednesday's governor's election as some voters say they had to wait for up to an hour for new ballots to be printed before they could cast their votes.
Republican presidential candidates used the third debate of the GOP primary campaign to show their support for Israel and display at least some willingness to criticize Donald Trump.
