Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is accusing President Donald Trump of having calculated motives for refusing to bail out the United States Postal Service (USPS).
During his discussion with SiriusXM radio host Dean Obeidallah, Raskin noted the reason he believes Republicans oppose mail-in ballots. He also discussed the important role USPS will play in the upcoming presidential election.
“They don’t want to have a real election. We are going to be depending on the Post Office to deliver people their ballots and then have them return their ballots through the mail,” Raskins said, adding, “It’s another reason for not just Donald Trump but the whole Republican party to hate the Post Office.”
Raskin went on to express why believes Trump and the Republicans will attempt to sabotage postal services in order to control it, oversee mail-in voting, and interfere in the general election in November.
“The whole Republican party… They hate the post office as a channel for upward mobility and employment for minorities,” he said. “And they also hate it for the role it’s going to play in the 2020 elections.”
Raskin continued, “The majority of the American people have rejected [Trump] and want to vote him out, so [Republicans] have to figure out ways to interfere with the vote. It’s very simple.”
Listen to Raskin’s remarks below:
"The majority of the American people have rejected [Trump] and want to vote him out, so [Republicans] have to figure out ways to interfere with the vote. It's very simple."@RepRaskin explains to @DeanObeidallah the calculus behind Republican attacks against the Post Office. pic.twitter.com/qfCl4kJ66W
— SiriusXMProg.bsky.social (@SiriusXMProg) April 24, 2020
Raskin’s comments follow a recent report detailing the possible changes USPS could face in the near future as a result of the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus.
On Thursday, it was reported that the Trump administration is mulling over the possibility of incorporating rigid terms for Congress’ emergency coronavirus loan which could end up being a form of leverage over the postal service. This would allow the Trump administration to incorporate changes to how they do business.
Despite Raskin’s speculation surrounding the election and possible mail-in voting due to the pandemic, the president reportedly argues his problem centers on the possibility of USPS undercharging Amazon in its postal contract.
For quite some time, he has reportedly pressed for USPS and other logistics firms to “double” rates for Amazon.
Now, Trump is also attributing the alleged undercharge to the financial problems USPS is facing despite the economic collapse due to the coronavirus outbreak.
However, he has also suggested that it would likely be impossible for a Republican to win if mail-in voting was allowed. While he has publicly denounced voting by mail on multiple occasions, he also admitted that he recently mailed in his own vote.