Former President Barack Obama slammed President Donald Trump for his handling of the United States Postal Service (USPS) amid the pandemic and upcoming presidential election.
Obama participated in a podcast interview with his former campaign manager David Plouffe.
The former president claimed Republican lawmakers have “actively tried to discourage people’s votes from counting in all kinds of ways, whether it’s voter ID laws or blatant gerrymandering, making it difficult for people in certain precincts to find their polling places.”
He also noted the distinct difference in Trump’s remarks regarding the U.S. Postal Service as he highlighted the president’s admitted reason for doing so.
“What we’ve never seen before is a president say, ‘I’m going to try to actively kneecap the postal service to encourage voting, and I will be explicit about the reason I’m doing it,’” Obama said.
He continued, “That’s sort of unheard of, right? And we also have not had an election in the midst of a pandemic that is still deadly and killing a lot of people and we still don’t know the long-term side effects of contracting the illness.”
I talked to @davidplouffe about these attempts to undermine the election, what’s at stake right now, and why we have to do everything we can to elect @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. https://t.co/9bqgWVUncE
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 14, 2020
Obama’s podcast interview came as he also tweeted his concerns about the USPS. The former president stressed the importance of the USPS as he noted how vital it is for Americans of all ages.
He tweeted, “Everyone depends on the USPS. Seniors for their Social Security, veterans for their prescriptions, small businesses trying to keep their doors open. They can’t be collateral damage for an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus.”
Everyone depends on the USPS. Seniors for their Social Security, veterans for their prescriptions, small businesses trying to keep their doors open. They can't be collateral damage for an administration more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 14, 2020
Despite Democrats’ concerns about the USPS, mail-in voting, and the upcoming election, Trump has opposed the idea of additional funding to the USPS. On Thursday, he admitted that he was well aware his decision would prohibit Democratic lawmakers’ calls push for universal mail-in voting.