Taylor Swift slams Trump administration's 'calculated dismantling' of U.S. Postal Service
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Taylor Swift is raising the alarm on the U.S. Postal Service crisis.
On Saturday, the musician condemned what she called President Donald Trump's "calculated dismantling" of the Postal Service, urging voters to request and return mail-in ballots early. "[Trump] is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president," Swift wrote on Twitter. "He's chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans' lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power."
"Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely," she added. This isn't the first time Swift has openly criticized the president; in May, she slammed his response to the George Floyd protests, writing, "We will vote you out in November."
Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020
Growing attention has been paid to the Trump administration's handling of the Postal Service in recent weeks, with Democrats and others saying Trump is attempting to sabotage November's presidential election. With record numbers of Americans likely to cast mail-in ballots this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has repeatedly claimed mail-in voting will facilitate widespread voter fraud and benefit Democrats.
Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor and fundraiser, took over as Postmaster General in May, and quickly instituted cost-cutting tactics such as banning overtime and restricting extra trips to deliver mail. Workers say these and other measures have led to substantial delays in mail delivery, and when coupled with a massive influx of election mail, could prevent mail-in ballots from arriving in time to be counted.
This week, Trump essentially admitted that he is opposing additional funding for the Postal Service in order to hinder voting by mail. “They need that money in order to make the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said in a Thursday interview on Fox Business, referring to a relief package proposed by congressional Democrats. "If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it."
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