President Trump on Thursday evening claimed that if more people are able to vote by mail, it could take "years" to find out the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
On Thursday morning, Trump floated the possibility of postponing the election rather than letting more people vote by mail amid the pandemic. Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to set the date for voting, and Trump's idea was quickly batted down by top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
During a press conference later in the day, Trump tried to create doubt over how states will distribute mail-in ballots. "You're sending out hundreds of millions of universal mail-in ballots, hundreds of millions," he said. "Where are they going, who are they being sent to? It's common sense."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump, whose poll numbers are dropping, said he wants to know the results on election night and have newscasters "say the projected winner or the winner of the election. I don't want to see that take place in a week after Nov. 3, or a month, or frankly, with litigation and everything else that could happen, years, or you never even know who won the election."
-
Margaret Atwood’s ‘deliciously naughty’ memoirIn the Spotlight ‘Bean-spilling’ book by The Handmaid’s Tale author is ‘immensely readable’
-
Being a school crossing guard has become a deadly jobUnder the Radar At least 230 crossing guards have been hit by cars over the last decade
-
Sudoku medium: November 4, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
