On Wednesday morning, Hillary Clinton echoed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s recent election conspiracy theory – which posits that President Donald Trump will try and delay the 2020 election – but with a new twist: White House advisor Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, could play a starring role.
The 2016 Democratic nominee promoted the election conspiracy theory in a tweet on Wednesday, and included a link to an article from The New York Times called “Kushner, Law Aside, Doesn’t Rule Out Delaying 2020 Election.”
“I can’t believe I have to write this sentence, but the president’s son-in-law doesn’t get to decide when the election is,” said Clinton.
I can’t believe I have to write this sentence, but the president’s son-in-law doesn’t get to decide when the election is. https://t.co/7CrpHny6TF
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 13, 2020
The only problem? The New York Times article she links specifically states, twice, that white house staffers don’t decide when the general election, an event with a date determined by federal law, gets to take place.
The opinion of a White House staff member has no bearing on when the election is held, but his comment played into the concerns of President Trump’s detractors…
The opinion of a White House staff member has no bearing on when the election is held. Even the president himself does not have the authority to unilaterally postpone Election Day, which by law takes place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Time Magazine reported on Tuesday evening that Kushner made the following remarks about the presidential election:
When asked if there was a chance the presidential election could be postponed past November 3 due to the pandemic, Kushner said that isn’t his decision. “I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that’s the plan,” he said.
“Hopefully by the time we get to September, October, November, we’ve done enough work with testing and with all the different things we’re trying to do to prevent a future outbreak of the magnitude that would make us shut down again,” Kushner continued. “I really believe that once America opens up, it’ll be very hard for America to ever lock down again.”
In a statement to The New York Times, Kushner later clarified that he has “not been involved in, nor am I aware of, any discussions about trying to change the date of the presidential election.”
In late April, former Vice President Joe Biden personally predicted that Trump would try and delay the presidential election, a legal maneuver that the president has no authority to enact.
“Mark my words, I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” said Biden, according to Politico. “That’s the only way he thinks he can possibly win.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Biden was sharply criticized for the remarks, including from columnists at mainstream media sites such as The Washington Post and CNN.
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