Washington, July 31:\u00a0US President Donald Trump said that he doesn\u2019t want to delay the November election, hours after raising the possibility on Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I want to see a date change? No,\u201d Xinhua news agency quoted Trump as saying during a press conference at the White House on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want a delay. I want to have the election\u2026 But I don\u2019t want to see a crooked election,\u201d he said, doubling down his criticism of mail-in voting.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also don\u2019t want to have to wait for three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn\u2019t mean anything. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen\u2026 that\u2019s common sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cMail-in ballots will lead to the greatest fraud,\u201d the President added.<\/p>\n
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump claimed \u2014 without providing any proof or evidence \u2014 that \u201cuniversal mail-in voting\u201d would make November\u2019s vote \u201cthe most inaccurate & fraudulent election in history\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a great embarrassment to the USA,\u201d he said. \u201cDelay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???\u201d<\/p>\n
The tweet immediately ignited a political firestorm and has drawn bipartisan pushback from Capitol Hill, as legal analysts agreed that Trump has no authority to delay the election as the US Constitution gives Congress the power to set the date.<\/p>\n
Election Day takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, as determined by federal law. Moving the date would require an act of Congress.<\/p>\n
Top Republicans \u2014 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy \u2014 have both dismissed the idea.<\/p>\n
McConnell said no US presidential election had ever been delayed before.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever in the history of this country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time. We will find a way to do that again this November third,\u201d the BBC quoted McConnell as saying to the local Kentucky station, WNKY.<\/p>\n
McCarthy echoed him. \u201cNever in the history of the federal elections have we ever not held an election and we should go forward with our election.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump ally Senator Lindsay Graham meanwhile said a delay was \u201cnot a good idea\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to be drawn on Trump\u2019s suggestion.<\/p>\n
Quizzed by reporters on whether a President could delay an election, he said he would not \u201center a legal judgement on the fly\u201d.<\/p>\n
When pressed, he said the Justice Department would \u201cmake that legal determination\u201d, adding: \u201cWe want an election that everyone is confident in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesman for Trump\u2019s re-election campaign, Hogan Gidley, said the President had just been \u201craising a question\u201d.<\/p>\n