Trump: Coronavirus stimulus negotiations sticking point is mail-in voting
President Trump speaks exclusively to FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo in a wide-ranging interview .
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden slammed President Trump on Thursday after the president announced he opposed funding for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in the latest economic stimulus package.
“Pure Trump,” Biden said after a reporter asked him about the president’s comments.
“He doesn’t want an election,” the Democrat claimed.
Trump announced his latest stance on funding for the USPS Thursday on Fox Business’ “Morning with Maria,” where he said Democrats "want $3.5 billion for something that'll turn out to be fraudulent — that's election money basically," Trump said referencing a $3.6 billion figure congressional democrats have set aside explicitly for mail-in voting.
BIDEN CAMPAIGN SAYS CASTING BALLOTS BY MAIL IS 'MOST SECURE FORM OF VOTING,' AS TRUMP WARNS OF FRAUD
"They want $25 billion for the post office. Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said Thursday.
“But if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it," he added.
Eight states and Washington, D.C. are automatically submitting mail-in ballots to every registered voter, accounting for 18 percent of the country with 38 million voters, according to a voter map created by The New York Times.
The majority of the country, including 34 states and 120 million voters are allowed to request mail-in voting ballots. Whereas 50 million voters in the remaining eight states are required to have a reason as to why they cannot vote in-person, only then allowing them to submit absentee ballots.
"What [negotiators] are saying is different than what the president is saying," Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said during a press conference Thursday. "If they came in the room and said the president is never doing this, that's something we'd take to the American people. And the American people want the Postal Service protected and preserved."
Pelosi said that the $25 billion figure was determined by the USPS board of governors, adding that Americans rely on the the service or more than the ability to vote, but to receive paychecks – including for some, the economic relief funding submitted by the government, along with prescription drugs.
PELOSI ACCUSES TRUMP OF BEING ‘AFRAID OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’ AMID MAIL-IN VOTING FIGHT
"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,” Trump told Bartiromo Thursday morning.
Biden’s campaign said that Trump was “sabotaging” the American right to vote by actively preventing funding from reaching the U.S. Postal Service.
"The President of the United States is sabotaging a basic service that hundreds of millions of people rely upon, cutting a critical lifeline for rural economies and for delivery of medicines, because he wants to deprive Americans of their fundamental right to vote safely during the most catastrophic public health crisis in over 100 years," Andrew Bates, a Biden campaign spokesman, said in a statement Thursday.
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Democrats have pushed for increased funding for the postal service as the coronavirus pandemic persists, in order to allow for increased mail-in voting.
There will be fewer polling stations along with social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus, and at risk groups are still warned against appearing in public, especially near groups of people.
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