Published 16:14 IST, August 17th 2020
Bernie Sanders calls Trump a 'pathological liar' over postal service funding issues
While the negotiations for increased spending on mail-in voting continues, Senator Bernie Sanders said that he ‘deeply concerned’ over the future of USPS.
Advertisement
While the negotiations for increased spending on mail-in voting continues, US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders reportedly said that he is ‘deeply concerned’ over the future of US Postal Service (USPS). In a televised interview with an international media outlet, Sanders, while referring to President Donald Trump, said that there is a ‘pathological liar’ in the White House. He also added that this is ‘one of the many reasons’ why Trump should be defeated in the upcoming Presidential elections.
Sanders' comments come after Trump, in a recent statement, claimed that the funding issues with the USPS are the fault of the Democrats not willing to compromise. However, Sanders refuted the point that there is currently a stalemate on the funding issue between Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic Senator also reportedly added he is ‘deeply concerned’ about Trump’s effort to undermine American democracy by defunding the postal service.
Meanwhile, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on August 16, reportedly said that she will be calling the House back into session over the crisis at the USPS, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election. As per reports, Pelosi is cutting short lawmakers' summer recess with a vote expected after the Democratic National Convention on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency as tensions mount.
Pelosi said, "In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central. Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy are under threat from the president".
Trump sends mixed signals
Trump has repeatedly expressed apprehension that counting of mailed ballots could take weeks and hampers the results, leading to a compromised poll. Trump earlier also suggested that increased postal voting in November could lead to fraud and inaccurate results.
However, in a recent news conference, the US President said that that he is willing to allocate billions of dollars towards the funding of the US Postal Service as a part of the coronavirus relief package if the Democrats are prepared to make concessions on White House priorities.
The mail-in voting involves the states to send automated postal ballots to all the registered voters which then have to be returned by the citizens or dropped off on election day. While there is no evidence of any widespread fraud in the mail-in votes, critics of the method have reportedly argued that citizens can vote more than once through absentee ballots.
(With AP inputs)
16:14 IST, August 17th 2020