Whitmer Says The President is 'More Focused on The 2020 Election Than Protecting Families'

LANSING, MI - (CBS Detroit) - Wednesday Morning, Governor Gretchen Whitmer released a statement in response to President Trump's early-morning tweet suggesting the delay of the 2020 election.

Whitmer says, "It's clear that the president is more focused on his chances in the 2020 election than on protecting families from a virus that has killed more than 150,000 Americans."

The presidential election is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every four years.

Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, quickly shot down Trump's idea: "Make no mistake: the election will happen in New Hampshire on November 3rd. End of story. Our voting system in NH is secure, safe, and reliable. We have done it right 100% of the time for 100 years – this year will be no different."

Whitmer said, "The truth is that mail-in absentee voting is safe, simple, and patriotic – so much so that the president and more than a dozen of his closest advisors have done it. If we could hold an election in 1864 amid a Civil War threatening to tear our country apart, we can and will hold one in 2020. It's time for the president to get his priorities straight and work with Congress on a bipartisan recovery package that protects our families, frontline workers, and small business owners."

This was the first time President Trump publicly raised the idea of pushing back the election.

Wendy Weiser, director of the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU's Law School, said, "He has absolutely no power to do this, and Congress is not going to vote to change the statute that has governed for decades and decades when and how we hold elections. This is just sowing chaos."

AP News reached out to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for a response, but as of Thursday morning, they didn't have one.

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