President Donald Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden said that his main concern is that Trump will try to “steal” November's election or not leave office if he loses. This prompted the White House to slam comments by Democrats as conspiracy theories. “My single greatest concern is that this president's going to try and steal this election,” Biden said.
Biden, in the meantime, released an eight-point plan to reopen the US economy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Biden, at a talk show hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, said that Trump might refuse to leave office and therefore, the military could aid in a peaceful transition of power. “I'm absolutely convinced they will escort him from the White House with great dispatch,” Biden was quoted as saying by AFP.
On The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Biden said, “This is a guy who said all mail-in ballots are fraudulent, voting by mail, while he sits behind the desk in the Oval Office and writes his mail-in ballot to vote in the primary.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dismissed Biden's remarks as “a ridiculous proposition”. She added that it was expected of the Democrats to grandstand and level conspiracy theories.
Trump on May 24 claimed that “Democrats are trying to rig the 2020 Election, plain and simple”. His tweet about on-mail ballots being rigged was flagged with a fact-check warning by Twitter head Jack Dorsey.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest across the country, Trump’s rating has taken a setback. This is forcing his aides to recalibrate his image ahead of the elections. As per a CNN poll which was released on Monday, Trump’s overall approval rating fell 7 per cent, while Biden’s rating surged by 14 per cent.
After a three-month hiatus, Trump is planning in-person campaigning events to maintain a steep cash advantage over Biden.
Biden in April had said that Trump might even try to find a reason why the election should not be held at all. “He’s already trying to undermine the election with false claims of voter fraud and threatening to block essential COVID assistance if any extra funds go to the US Postal Service,” he had said then.
