Fox News host and politics editor Chris Stirewalt asserted Thursday that President Donald Trump suggesting that the November elections ought to be delayed doesn’t bode well for his reelection prospects.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Stirewalt rejected Trump’s argument for postponing the election until people can “safely” vote amid COVID-19, pointing out how the country has historically held elections during wars and other pandemics.
“And the idea for an incumbent to suggest that we would delay an election now while he is in power is of course totally out of character with all of his predecessors and it is a sort of fragrant and flagrant expression of his current weakness,” Stirewalt said. “A person who is in a strong position would never, never, suggest anything like that.”
“So Trump may be making a tactical error here by further telegraphing his weak position in the polls and his weak position for reelection,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump tweeted that this year’s election “will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history” due to mail-in voting (even though there is no evidence voting by mail leads to election fraud). Multiple states — both red and blue — have taken steps to expand mail-in voting in recent months as a way to curb the spread of COVID-19 and safely hold elections in November.
“Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” he tweeted.
Trump is currently trailing Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls as public disapproval over his response to the pandemic and to protests against police brutality grows.
Watch Stirewalt below:
Fox News editor says Trump's suggestion to delay the elections is a "flagrant expression of his current weakness." pic.twitter.com/0ne9lpyVlQ
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 30, 2020
Not bigly strong? Now that is going to put a burr in his shorts.
I can hardly wait to see what Wild and Crazy ™ conspiracy bubbles out of his brain jelly next.
Looks like a part of a “please we are a real news station!” pivot.
Too little, way too late.
Well, even Fox is calling Trump out on this…I guess he’ll have to start watching OAN exclusively to get his daily dose of Trump worship.
There’s a bit of sarcasm there, plenty of people at Fox will still worship Trump and say whatever helps him, but it is healthy that someone at Fox said this. If the serious news people at Fox accurately report on the election, it will undermine the opinion people with at least some Fox viewers, and that will undercut the possibility of them being able to do anything about losing the election. It’s also good that Fox called Trump out on how weak this is…candidates who are winning don’t try to delay an election, they have it or even move it forward if they can.
Letting the cat out of the bag was a poor choice by Trump, he’s vulnerable and has let people know he thinks that as well…at least some will start to bail on him even more now that it’s becoming more clear that he’s losing badly (at the moment, things may change of course and we have to stay vigilant to make sure Trump loses).
OMG . . . someone at Fox speaks the truth? Who’d a thunk it?
Something is in the air. He’s getting more and more criticism from Fox. There has been much more frequent pushback from Congressional Republicans against him where it concerns things like masks and the new stimulus. I could be way off, but I think that “you can oppose him after Labor Day” edict from McConnell has already fallen apart.