Al Gore calls Trump's strategy of undermining mail-in voting 'despicable'

(Image credit: Scott Heins/Getty Images)

published August 25, 2020

Former Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday said it is "despicable" that President Trump is attempting to undermine mail-in voting ahead of the November election.

During an event with Reuters, Gore accused Trump of trying to dismantle the United States Postal Service in order to "deprive people who are scared of the pandemic from voting by mail," and likened this to Trump putting his "knee on the neck of democracy." Trump has also been sowing doubts about the integrity of the election that is still months away, and Gore said he seems to have "no compunctions at all about trying to rip apart the social fabric and the political equilibrium of the American people."

When Gore lost the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush, it all came down to Florida, and the final result wasn't decided until December. Gore said Americans need to prepare for the possibility that this year's winner won't be announced on Election Day, but even if Trump loses and he refuses to accept the results, "it's not really up to him." According to the Constitution, Trump's term is up on Jan. 20, 2021, and the Secret Service and military leaders would answer to the new president.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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