Taylor Swift and Jason Mraz are among the Americans speaking up about president Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the U.S. Post Office’s ability to deliver ballots for the November election.
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” Swift tweeted to her 86.9 million followers on Saturday. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.
“Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.”
Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020
Mraz, a former USPS worker, shared on Instagram: “My experience is that the post office does an incredible job handling volume. Especially those colourful bday and holiday envelopes sent by grandmas around the world. Do not think for a minute that this time tested system would fail us during an election.
“A government by & for the people would make sure the postal service is running at full capacity instead of closing branches and turning off AUTOMATED sorting machines which make sorting faster and easier – but – suspiciously, we have an administration trying to undermine the hardworking service men & women who make the USPS possible.”
Mraz pointed out that “tampering with elections is illegal. So is mail fraud. You or I would go to prison for it.” He urged his 1.4 million follower to “make sure the postmaster general and our President are held accountable for their actions, starting with a personnel change in the People’s House. #vote #voteblue #votelouder”
In 2018, Swift was credited with causing a jump in voter registrations after the went on Instagram to slam Republican candidates in Tennessee. Trump later said he likes Swift’s music “about 25% less now.”
At the time, Swift explained her reason for wading into politics. “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now.”
In May, she tweeted: “We will vote you out in November.”
Trump has made no secret of his mission to prevent Americans from voting by mail, admitting it “doesn’t work out well for Republicans.” Last week, he told Fox Business he does not want more funding for the USPS because without it “you can't have universal mail-in voting because they're not equipped to have it.”
Trump, a pathological liar, also falsely claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud.