Dem Sen. Peters: Trump's Objections to Vote-by-Mail 'Outrageous,' 'Hypocrisy'

Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) accused President Donald Trump of extreme “hypocrisy” over his objections to mass vote by mail in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Host Joe Scarborough asked, “The president has been attacking Michigan repeatedly, attacking the governor. Now claiming that Michigan’s doing something inappropriate as it relates to absentee ballots. Tell us what’s going on there. Is Michigan doing anything differently now than it’s done in the past under Republican governorships?

Peters said, “Well, it’s outrageous what the president has been saying about absentee voting and the ability for folks in Michigan to request an absentee ballot. In 2018, we had a proposal on the ballot, and the folks here in the state voted by a very large majority to have the right to request an absentee ballot for no reason. Prior to that, you had to be a senior citizen or verify that you were going to be out of town. Now anybody can ask to have a ballot sent to their home and vote. The president apparently doesn’t like that. And yet it is the constitutional right of everybody here in Michigan to be able to exercise their right to vote, to have the ballot on their kitchen table to be able to take time to think through the various issues and to vote.”

“And yet this president is saying that that is wrong,” he continued. “And the amount of hypocrisy is extreme given the fact that my understanding is that the president nearly every time he has voted, he votes by mail. Everybody in Michigan should have the right to be able to vote by mail as well. And it is all we’re seeing from the secretary of state now. She’s mailing out applications to folks here in the state asking whether or not they would like to vote by mail. It is their right and to threaten holding back funding for that is simply outrageous.”

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