Taylor Swift has slammed Donald Trump, after the President received scrutiny in recent weeks for attempts to seemingly sabotage the US Postal Service ahead of the forthcoming federal election.
Last week, the President conceded he opposed Democrat calls for government aid to the USPS on the basis that it would support the delivery of mail-in ballots. Trump has been vocal about his opposition to mail-in voting for this year’s election, as the coronavirus pandemic is set to see a record number of Americans casting their votes by mail come November.
According to the USPS’ inspector general, an investigation has been launched into policy changes postmaster general Louis DeJoy has made to the postal service over the past months – including cutting overtime. Other recent disruptions to the postal system include the removal of mailboxes and dismantling of mail-sorting machines.
Now, Swift has echoed the sentiments of those who see Trump’s recent policies as an attempt to sabotage the forthcoming election, with the singer-songwriter taking to social media over the weekend.
Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” Swift tweeted. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
“Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely,” the singer added. “Request a ballot early. Vote early.”
Trump has continued to remain critical of mail-in ballots for the election, with the President tweeting back in May that the process would be “substantially fraudulent”, citing concerns about mailboxes being robbed, ballots forged and illegally printed out and fraudulently signed. “This will be a rigged election,” Trump declared.
Trump’s tweets about mail-in voting led to Twitter amending the tweets to include a fact-check around the mail-in voting process, with the social media platform acknowledging that Trump had made an “unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud”.