Trump and his allies will do everything in their power to impede the 2020 election: op-ed

Even as the coronavirus continues to rage with 20,000 new cases diagnosed each day, President Trump has seemingly moved on and shifted his focus to reopening the economy -- in what many see as a desperate push to save his reelection chances. Writing for Slate this Wednesday, Elliot Hannon says that Trump and his cronies are going to try to mess with the 2020 election as much as possible to bolster their chances in November.

Hannon cites a recent TIME interview with Jared Kushner where he said he wasn't sure if the pandemic would postpone the November 3 election. Kushner later clarified to the New York Times that there are no plans to do such a thing. But Hannon writes that since so many lies come out of the White House it's impossible to be sure.

"The U.S. presidential election is, by law, held 'the Tuesday after the first Monday in November' and has been since 1845," Hannon writes. "Kushner acknowledged in his remarks to Time that the executive branch doesn’t have the power unilaterally to change the date of the election, as it would require Congress to alter the law. But 'the law,' as written, hasn’t stopped the Trump Train from bulldozing through things that were once considered sacrosanct in American life either to enrich himself or prop up is political conspirators."

While Trump is gung-ho for Americans to get out of their houses and get back to work, when it comes to Americans voting he's not so enthusiastic, Hannon contends. "Even if Trump and his allies don’t alter the date, they will do everything in their power to impede the process and impugn the result. They’re already doing just that."

Read the full op-ed over at Slate.