Trump advocates for mail and early voting despite historically opposing both

Trump advocates for mail and early voting despite historically opposing both

President Donald Trump said Americans should cast their ballot using “every appropriate tool,” in a pre-recorded video imploring Republicans to vote in the midterm elections, including using methods that he has historically opposed like early and mail voting.

“If your state has early voting, do not wait. Go out and vote,” Trump said in the video posted Saturday morning to his Truth Social account. “Vote early, vote by mail, or vote in person on Election Day.”

Trump’s message is notable because he has criticized mail-in voting for years and pushed to limit it since the start of his second term, though many of those efforts have been blocked by courts.

It comes as Trump’s midterm strategy has relied heavily on turning out his base, and less so on persuading undecided voters to support GOP candidates.

“It’s all a turnout game,” a GOP campaign official told CNN last month. “From day one, the campaign committees and the president’s political operation have been sharing data to make sure we’re hammering the exact people we need to turn out.”

The Supreme Court rejected sweeping restrictions last month that would have changed how mail ballots are sent to voters in advance of the midterm elections. The decision came after state election officials warned that they did not have enough time to enact the provisions that stemmed from a March executive order the president issued.

Trump issued a lengthy reaction on social media responding to the decision, labeling the country’s mail-in voting system a “‘disaster,’ which is a laughing stock all over the World, and where we are the only country that has to endure such a Nation Destroying SCAM.”

The president has also aggressively pushed Congress to enact restrictions on mail-in voting through the “SAVE America Act,” a federal elections overhaul bill that has met bipartisan opposition in the Senate.