According to President Donald Trump, Democrats are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to defeat him in the upcoming presidential election.
Appearing before delegates at the Republican National Convention gathering in Charlotte, N.C, on Monday, Trump accused Democrats of depriving Americans of a “free” and “fair” election.
“What they’re doing is using COVID to steal an election. They’re using COVID to defraud the American people, all of our people, of a fair and free election,” Trump said.
The president told delegates this is not the first time Democrats have tried to steal the election from him.
He mentioned former President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
“They are trying to steal the election just like they did it last time with spying and we caught them and that included President Obama and that included… Biden,” Trump said.
Watch his comments below:
Trump accuses Democrats of “using Covid to steal an election” pic.twitter.com/VDZVRh8kyY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 24, 2020
Trump has repeatedly claimed Democrats are attempting to manipulate the November election with their push for mail-in voting.
Speaking to supporters in Wisconsin on Aug. 17, Trump raised concerns about what he calls universal mail-in voting, as IJR previously reported.
Universal mail-in voting is where states automatically send ballots to all registered voters.
He claimed the only way he is going to lose the election is if it is “rigged.”
To combat widespread voter fraud, Trump threatened to send law enforcement and U.S. attorneys to United States polling locations, as IJR previously reported.
Doubling down on his critique of mail-in voting, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity the 2020 election “will be the greatest scam in history” and “they’re sending out 51 million ballots to people that didn’t ask for them.”
Trump has not provided evidence to back his claim there is widespread voter fraud.
The president acquired the votes needed for re-nomination on Monday ahead of the election against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.