“From the USPS to Kanye, Trump’s moves look like his eyes are on November”

NBC News:

With the conventions and the true sprint to the general election approaching, it’s a good time to take stock of the things President Donald Trump, his campaign and his administration have done that could influence the mechanics of the November election.

And we’ll note here: We’re not talking about the standard things — whether you think they’re ethical or not — that campaigns have historically done, like filing lawsuits to argue for voting rules that boost their political interests, or using their message in a way designed to depress the other side’s turnout.

We’re talking about tangible, deliberate, and unusual decisions made by the current president or his allies that could have an impact on the vote less than three months from now.

Here’s a taste of what we’re talking about, just from the last few weeks:

  • Trump installed a new Postmaster General (who was a campaign donor) who instituted new cost-saving measures that have slowed mail delivery nationwide and sparked fears about absentee ballot delays.
  • He explicitly said yesterday that he would block proposed emergency funding for the Postal Service, adding that USPS doesn’t “have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it, I guess.
  • He appeared to put more stock in an intelligence report finding that China prefers a Biden presidency than in Russian efforts to denigrate Biden, despite intelligence officials saying that pro-Trump election interference from Russia “was the far graver, and more immediate, threat.
  • He equated foreign interference from Russia to Democrats “meddling” in the election because they are promoting mail-in balloting during the pandemic.
  • He suggested in a tweet that Florida’s mail-in ballots are more trustworthy than other states’ because Florida has had “two great Republican governors.”
  • The president’s son-in-law reportedly met in person with Kanye West, who is trying to get on ballots nationwide and recently did not deny that he’s doing so as a spoiler to Biden’s campaign.
  • GOP operatives in at least four states have aided West’s attempts to get on the 2020 ballot
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