Trump Votes In-Person After Years Of Casting His Ballot Absentee

President Trump does a little dance as he leaves the stage during an airport rally Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Newport News, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
President Donald Trump does a little dance after speaking at a campaign rally Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Newport News, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

President Donald Trump, a repeated absentee voter, broke with tradition on Saturday by appearing at library in Florida’s Palm Beach County to cast his ballot in person, a move that comes after repeatedly condemning mail-in voting.

“It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot,” Trump said on Saturday according to NPR, after telling reporters that he had “voted for a guy named Trump.” 

Vice President Mike Pence also voted early a day earlier in Indianapolis.

President Trump has repeatedly voted by mail in the past — voting absentee in New York in 2018 and in Florida’s March primary. After months of criticizing vote-by-mail, Trump even requested a mail-in ballot for Florida’s primary election that was sent to his Mar-a-Lago residence in August and flip-flopped about the safety of mail-in voting in the battleground state.

President Trump has railed against efforts by Democrats and voting rights advocates to expand mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic — often peddling the false claim that ballots cast by mail will cause a “rigged” election overwhelmed by “fraud.”

After voting, President Trump boasted that he was headed to big rallies which  — even as he slides in national polls — he said have recently welcomed large crowds, the Associated Press reportedThe President has previously been criticized for hosting large gathering where masks are often not worn and social-distancing guidelines are not followed — the issue becomes particularly critical amid back-to-back record-shattering single day highs for new coronavirus cases on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told a drive-in rally outside Philadelphia that he didn’t  like “all this distance” but said it was necessary amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

”We don’t want to become super-spreaders,” Biden said, according to AP, in an apparent jab at President Trump who hosted a ceremony at the White House last month for his Supreme Court nominee which appeared to result in a number of COVID-19 cases. 

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for j.dave j.dave says:

    In fairness to Trump, he was still mentally absent.

  2. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    “It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot,” Trump said on Saturday according to NPR,after telling reporters that he had “voted for a guy named Trump.”

    I’m willing to bet he didn’t bother filling out the rest of the ballot. Or if he did, just punched buttons at random.

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    In that photo, it sure looks like he wants to make sure Melania didn’t write in Justin Trudeau.

  4. Trump walked into a library?

    It’s like a matter/anti-matter encounter, and I’m surprised both didn’t implode.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

178 more replies

Participants

Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for yskov Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for lastroth Avatar for greylady Avatar for dickweed Avatar for pine Avatar for darrtown Avatar for pshah Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for henk Avatar for docd Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for demyankee Avatar for uneducated Avatar for brian512 Avatar for cub_calloway Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for rucleare Avatar for kovie Avatar for josep

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: