Pelosi Doubles Down on Vote by Mail While Trump Rejects Idea Saying ‘I Think A Lot of People Cheat’ at Daily Press Briefing

On Wednesday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to virus-proof the November election by including funding to boost voting by mail in the next pandemic response plan being put together by Democrats in the House of Representatives.

She took to Twitter yesterday, sharing another video from her interview the night before with Stephen Colbert and saying, “Vote-by-mail is essential to protecting the future of our democracy as we confront this public health crisis. There is no legitimate argument against enacting it.”

Vote-by-mail is essential to protecting the future of our democracy as we confront this public health crisis. There is no legitimate argument against enacting it. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/WPgOgIivK0

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 3, 2020

At yesterday’s daily White House press briefing, ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Trump, “Do you think every state in the country should be prepared for mail-in voting?”

Trump responded, “No, because I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting and it shouldn’t be mail-in voting. It should be, you go to a booth, and you probably display yourself. You don’t send it in the mail where people pick up all sorts of bad things can happen by the time they sign that, if they sign that, if they sign that, by the time it gets and is tabulated. No. It should not be mailed-in. You should vote at the booth, and you should have voter ID.”

The political motivations by the Democrats are clear as before the outbreak, in February, a number of left-leaning groups filed an avalanche of voting-rights lawsuits against state laws they say suppress participation in elections.

The groups, including state and national party committees as well as outside nonprofits, are spending millions of dollars to fight voter-registration purges, ID requirements and rules regarding signature-matching and ballot order, and they are also hiring voter protection staffers and recruiting and training volunteers in key states.