President Trump on Thursday defended his use of mail-in voting, saying he cast a ballot by mail recently “because I’m president” and “I had a lot of different things” to do, even as he tries to restrict the practice for most Americans.
Mr. Trump voted by mail in a special election in Florida this week, despite previously saying that mail-in voting amounted to “cheating.” Mr. Trump has called for some exceptions to allow for the practice, such as when voters are ill, disabled, traveling or in the military.
Asked about his vote on Thursday, Mr. Trump said: “You know what, because I’m president of the United States. And because of the fact that I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine.”
Pressed on the fact that he traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he spent time in his residence and played golf — both of which are only 15 minutes driving distance to his polling place — during the early voting period, Mr. Trump said he fit the criteria for the exceptions he has pushed for in what he calls the SAVE America Act.
“I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn’t be there, because I had a lot of different things,” he said, without saying which exception applied to him.
“So I was away mostly, in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
The legislation, which Mr. Trump has called “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress,” would stiffen voter identification requirements and make mail-in voting significantly more difficult.
“Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating,” Mr. Trump said earlier this week during an appearance in Memphis. “I call it mail-in cheating, and we got to do something about it all.”
Critics of the president’s voting legislation say it would suppress and discourage legal voting, particularly among groups that typically support Democrats, such as naturalized citizens, people of color and lower-income people.
So far, the measure faces an uphill battle in Congress.
Mr. Trump has long fixated on mail-in voting to bolster his baseless claims of widespread fraud in elections. But he also has used mail-in voting himself.
Voter records made public by the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website show that Mr. Trump voted most recently by mail in Palm Beach County, home to his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he has been registered to vote since 2019, and also voted by mail in 2020. That year, he said he voted by mail because he was “allowed to.”
Mr. Trump voted in a special election for a Florida legislative district between the Democrat Emily Gregory and the Republican Jon Maples, whom Mr. Trump endorsed. Ms. Gregory won the election, flipping the seat.
On Wednesday, the day after the special election, Mr. Trump continued to rail against mail-in voting, which he admitted he benefited from in previous elections, particularly in Florida.
“I’ve won with mail-in ballots,” Mr. Trump told Republican lawmakers at a fund-raiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee, “but I hate mail-in ballots, because basically, it’s a way of cheating.”
Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
The post ‘Because I’m President’: Trump Defends His Use of Mail Voting appeared first on New York Times.
