WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King flatly rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that mail-in voting will drastically increase voter fraud, and his suggestion that the 2020 election should be delayed. In his full statement, which can be read below, Senator King urges increased investments in national election infrastructure and the United States Postal Service, and condemns the President’s tweet, stating he can think of “no greater gift to our adversaries” seeking to undermine faith in American elections.

“President Trump’s outrageous claim has absolutely no basis in reality,” said Senator King. “Voting by mail has been used successfully in states as diverse as Oregon and Utah for years, and there is zero evidence that it leads to any significant increase in voter fraud. Furthermore, the executive has no authority to delay the election; the power to set election days belongs to Congress, and I, for one, refuse to allow conspiracy theories and baseless accusations to damage Americans’ faith in the bedrock foundation of our democratic system of governance. If the President is truly concerned about the status of our election, he should join those who are calling for increased investments in election systems across the country, and stop undermining the U.S. Postal Service during a time of economic crisis.

“The President’s statements are wildly inaccurate, but they remain corrosive and dangerous. We have seen that rival nations are determined to interfere in the American electoral process, but in order to be successful they don’t have to change votes; they simply have to cast doubt on the validity of the results. President Trump’s attempt to question the election’s results before a single ballot has been cast is a transparent effort to suppress the vote and delegitimize election results he may not like. I can think of no greater offense against our country, and no greater gift to our adversaries. For the good of the nation, Americans of all parties must reject his dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric which undermines the trust in our electoral system upon which our democracy rests.”