Former PresidentĀ Barack Obama slammed PresidentĀ Donald Trump, and Republicans in office, for his criticism of mail-in votingĀ as he eulogized Rep.Ā John LewisĀ (D-Ga.), a civil rights icon on Thursday.
Obama accused Trump of attempting to dissuade Americans from voting.
āEven as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision,ā Obama said.
He added, āEven undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election thatās going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people donāt get sick.ā
Watch his remarks below:
Obama acknowledged this is a time to celebrate Lewisā life, but suggested he is talking about these issues because Lewis spent his whole life ādevotedā to fighting these āattacksā on Democracy and what is best for the nation.
Obamaās comments come just hours after Trump issued a tweet floating the idea of delaying the upcoming presidential election slamming āuniversal mail-in voting,ā as IJR previously reported.
Trump argued if Americans chose to vote that way, the election would be āthe most inaccurateā and āfraudulent election in history.ā
Trump received harsh criticism from other lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Pelosi pointed to a clause in the Constitution as proof the president is not able to delay an election as the election date is determined by Congress, as IJR previously reported.
Schumer took to the Senate floor on Thursday accusing Trump of trying to delay the election to distract from his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trumpās fellow Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pushed back on his suggestion noting the nation will hold the election on the designated date with no exception.
Earlier this month Obama said mail-in voting āshouldnāt be a partisan issue.ā