Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonClintons, Stacey Abrams meet with Democrats in Texas Biden says Russia is spreading misinformation ahead of the 2022 election. The highest-ranking GOP assembly in WI against another audit of the 2020 vote MORE ▼ slammed President Trump
Donald TrumpTrump’s PAC led over M for the first half of 2021. Chicago owes tax refund to Trump M., state’s attorney challenges Biden has met with opposition from unions over the vaccine requirement MORE ▼ on Thursday for “spreading lies” about the vote, while sending ballots by mail.
“Trump himself voted by mail, but spread lies and threats to prevent his fellow Americans from following the same option during an epidemic,” the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate wrote on Twitter. “Clearly, we will have to work this fall to protect secure access to the ballot box.”
Trump himself voted by mail, but spread lies and threats to prevent his fellow Americans from following the same option during an epidemic.
It is clear that this autumn we will have to work to protect secure access to the ballot box.https://t.co/NwWyk6V0si
– Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 21, 2020
Clinton’s criticism follows that of Trump threat on wednesday to withhold federal funding for Michigan after its Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) said all registered voters in the state would receive applications for absentee voting by mail this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Interruption: Michigan sends out ballots for the absence of 7.7 million people before the primary and general elections,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “This was done illegally and without the permission of a fraudulent secretary of state. I will ask that we keep the funding of Michigan if they want to go down this path of voter fraud! ”
Benson responded by noting that the state sent applications, not ballots.
Trump later tweeted that the state was sending “absentee ballots,” although he reiterated his claim that the decision was “illegal.”
Trump has often objected to expanding mail voting efforts. Democrats are pushing to expand these efforts amid a coronavirus pandemic.
Trump’s campaign spokesman Ken Farnazo defended the president’s criticism of efforts to vote by mail in response to Clinton’s tweet.
Farnaso said Clinton “must live in an alternate reality,” adding that there were “endless examples of voter fraud by mail order.”
“Democrats want to threaten the sanctity of our decentralized electoral system and hand it over to the federal government. “Nationalizing the agenda by postal vote will only violate the Constitution and take away the rights of the states,” he said.
The campaign also rejected Clinton’s tweet, explaining that Trump voted by absentee ballot “not to vote by mail.”
Updated at 4 p.m.