President Donald Trump shook up the political sphere this week via Twitter when he suggested delaying the November election.
The sudden remarks came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) took advantage of the opportunity to ask Pompeo about Trump’s tweet.
Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential nominee in 2016, asked Pompeo, “Can a president delay the November presidential election, Mr. Secretary?”
Pompeo declined to answer, saying, “I’m not going to enter a legal judgment on that on the fly.”
Kaine laid on some flattery before asking Pompeo again, saying, “You are an honors graduate of West Point. You are a graduate of the Harvard Law School. You were on the Harvard Law Review … You are one of the most highly trained and accomplished lawyers who are part of this administration. Can a president delay a presidential election?”
Pompeo again declined to answer, saying, “Senator, in the end, the Department of Justice and others will make that legal determination. We all should want, and I know you do to Senator Kaine, want to make sure we have an election that everyone is confident in.”
When Kaine asked Pompeo if he cares about the date of the election, the Secretary of State responded, “It should happen lawfully.”
Kaine then told Pompeo, “A president cannot delay an election. The date of the election is established by Congress. It was established in 1845. There is no ability for a president to delay an election.”
Here’s that back-and-forth:
Senator @timkaine: "A president cannot delay an election. The date of the election is established by Congress. It was established in 1845. There is no ability for a president to delay an election." pic.twitter.com/651HddZZnX
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 30, 2020
Trump’s suggestion to delay the election came only 95 days before the nation heads to the ballot box to choose between Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. In late April, Biden said that Trump might try to move the election. At the time, Trump dismissed it as “made up propaganda.”