Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of 'trying to steal the election' with mail-in voting as he vowed to send in law enforcemen...
Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of 'trying to steal the election' with mail-in voting as he vowed to send in law enforcement to polling stations to stop voter fraud.
The president told Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night he plans to send in troops including sheriffs, law enforcement, US attorneys and attorney generals to monitor the election - a move legal experts have cast doubt on.
He blasted the November election as the 'most fraudulent election in history' and made the extreme claim that ballots may only be sent out to blue areas of the country.
Trump had called in to Fox News' Hannity one hour before Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, in one of a series of appearances intentionally clashing with the closing night of the Democratic National Convention.
Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of 'trying to steal the election' with mail-in voting as he vowed to send in law enforcement to polling stations to stop voter fraud
When asked by Hannity if he would deploy 'poll watchers' to voting stations to prevent fraud in the upcoming election, Trump claimed: 'We're going to have everything.'
'We're gonna have sheriffs and we're gonna have law enforcement and we're gonna have hopefully US attorneys,' he said.
'We're going to have everybody - and attorney generals.'
Trump provided no further details on the troops he will send in to polling stations or what their role will entail.
However, legal experts said the president has no authority to take such action.
Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California at Irvine, told CNN Trump does not have the legal power to deploy local law enforcement officials to monitor elections but that he could hire off-duty cops for the job.
The move could also face a backlash from Democrats who could claim the president was suppressing voters.
The president has repeatedly hit out at mail-in voting and claimed it will cost him the election but his latest comments also point to him having a seated distrust for in-person voting as well.
Trump then returned to slamming mail-in balloting, saying 51 million ballots will be sent 'indiscriminately' with many being sent to 'dead people'.
The president told Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday night the November election will be the 'most fraudulent election in history' and made the extreme claim that ballots may only be sent out to blue areas of the country
'They are talking about sending 51 million ballots out to anybody who, you know, nobody knows who is going to get them,' he said.
'It's a horrible thing. It's a fraudulent election. Everybody knows it, you don't even have to know politics to know it.
'Fifty-one million ballots are going to be indiscriminitely sent out to people who didn't even ask for them, people who will say, "Hey, I just got a ballot, that's great, let me vote," and it's a terrible thing.'
This week the president cast his own vote in Florida's 21st District primary election by mail, after changing his official residence from New York to Palm Beach back in October - despite his repeated claims the mail-in system is 'rigged'.
But Trump told Hannity mail-in balloting and absentee balloting are different and the latter is 'very secure'.
'A lot of people use absentee... but that's when you go through a process,' he said.
'You ask for it, they send it to you, and it's very secure. There is nothing like going to the voter's booth... but absentee is good.
The president claimed ballots may only be sent out to blue areas of the country
He said he would send in sheriffs, law enforcement, US attorneys, attorney generals and 'everybody' to polling stations to stop voter fraud
'But they want to send, it's called mail-in, universal mail-in, universal mail-in ballots, 51 million ballots sent to ... who knows who?'
'I mean, you know, where are they going? This is going to be the greatest scam in history. This will be the most fraudulent election in history. It's a terrible thing. They are trying to steal the election.'
He took aim at the Democratic primary race on Manhattan's East Side where a judge ordered round 1,000 disputed ballots should be counted.
The dispute relates to Trump's former home district on Manhattan's East Side, where Trump Tower is located.
'It's impossible. [Maloney's race] was so messed up for weeks and weeks - and they just declared her a winner but they have no idea where the ballots are,' he said of the primary.
'It's a disgrace, that election - but that was mail-in votes. And that was a very small election.'
Trump insisted the issue with mail-in voting is nothing to do with the United States Postal Service, but with the people sending the ballots out.
'They may send them to all Democrat areas and not to Republican areas as an example,' he said.
Trump had called in to Fox News' Hannity one hour before Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, in one of a series of appearances intentionally clashing with the closing night of the Democratic National Convention. Biden and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris
'It could be the other way too but I doubt it.'
Trump did not specify who he was referring to but said 'whoever sends those ballots is a very powerful person.'
'On the assumption the person is honest there'll still be fraud as people die and other people see [the ballot] and they grab them and then send it back,' he said.
Trump went on to boast about the growth in the economy and predicted that the US will have a 'great third quarter and and great fourth quarter and we're going to have an incredible next year'.
He pointed to employment figures as evidence of a strong economy.
'You look at the numbers that just came in for the quarter and they're record setting -over nine million jobs,' he said.
Trump made no mention of the most recent data from the Labor Department released just hours earlier which showed the number of Americans filing a new claim for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly back above the 1 million mark last week.
New claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 1.1 million for the week ended August 15, up from 971,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
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