“Sources Close to the President’s Reelection Campaign Tell Axios” That “Trump trashes mail voting in part because he sees the messaging as good cover if he loses to Joe Biden in November”

That’s in an article entitled “Scoop: Kevin McCarthy Warns Trump’s War on Mail Could Screw GOP.”

The idea that Trump is attacking mail-in voting to give himself an excuse if he loses to Biden in November is the most benign explanation of Trump’s actions.

As I wrote in this NYT piece:

The most benign explanation for Mr. Trump’s obsessive focus on mail-in balloting is that he is looking for an excuse for a possible loss to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in November. The less benign explanation is that he is seeking to sow chaos to drive down turnout and undermine the legitimacy of the election, laying the groundwork for contesting a close election if he loses. I fear that the latter explanation is correct, and that makes it all the more urgent that election administrators, the media and others take steps to avoid a crisis of confidence in the 2020 election results….

If Mr. Trump is not really concerned about fraud, what’s the real end game? His unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud may be aimed at sowing chaos during the election and depressing turnout to help his side win election. Worse, it could be calculated to delegitimize the election results, which could allow Mr. Trump to contest a close election or weaken a Biden presidency.

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