Trump accuses Democrats of 'con game' in push for mail-in voting
Democrats accuse Trump of trying to cripple USPS and suppress voting; Fox News contributor Byron York shares reaction and analysis.
The accusation that President Trump is trying to cripple the U.S. Postal Service to suppress mail-in voting and interfere with the upcoming election is a “nothing-burger” propagated by Democrats and the mainstream media, Ben Shapiro said Monday.
"The Democrats have a theory, and their theory is that the reason Republicans don't want to fund the U.S. Postal Service to the tune of something like $50 billion is because they're trying to undermine the election," "The Ben Shapiro Show" host told listeners.
USPS WARNS 46 STATES IT CANNOT GUARANTEE MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL ARRIVE IN TIME FOR ELECTION
"That is simply not true," Shapiro went on. "The U.S. Postal Service has the funding, the liquidity, to get through 2020. So no matter what kind of funding you provide to them right now, it's gonna have no impact on the election."
Shapiro was responding to what he called a "weird conspiracy theory" amongst Democrats and liberals who claim that that the recent reduction in mail service is an intentional move by the White House to impair the ability of Americans to vote by mail in November’s election.
Last week, the U.S. Postal Service sent letters warning 46 states and the District of Columbia that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail will arrive in time to be counted by election officials.
But, the suspicion turned to outrage after Trump admitted in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that he is loath to give additional funding to the Postal Service because it would make mail-in voting -- a process which he adamantly opposes -- easier
"This scandal is... a complete nothing-burger," Shapiro insisted before conceding "it doesn't help when President Trump says stupid crap ... giving credibility to a theory that literally has no evidence to back it."
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The conservative commentator added, "The real problem for the post office is that their turnaround is too long for these state regulations as to when you can send in your absentee or mail-in ballots."
However, that fact "doesn't matter," Shapiro continued. "The media have decided that President Trump is deliberately trying to kneecap the U.S. Postal Service to prevent people from voting ... and this has gained a lot of currency on the left."
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.
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