Aug. 3 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Monday that President Donald Trump was telling “bald-faced lies” about voting by mail to distract from his own failures, after Trump last week suggested it could be cause to delay the election.
Biden’s remarks were his strongest on the issue since Trump,who trails the presumptive Democratic nominee in opinion polls, tweeted on Thursday that he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting - a measure many observers see as critical during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Trump then suggested the Nov. 3 vote could be postponed, anidea immediately rejected by Democrats and his fellowRepublicans in Congress - the sole branch of government with theauthority to make such a change.
Speaking during a virtual campaign fundraiser on Monday,Biden said he believed Trump would do everything in his power to”argue this election is fraudulent.”
“He suggested we should postpone the election, full of justbald-faced lies about how mail-in votes were fraud, and how itwas so terrible,” Biden said.
“Well look, he’s calling out any effort to exploit thispandemic for political purposes. It distracts from his completefailure,” he said.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a requestfor comment.
The United States is enduring a coronavirus pandemic thathas claimed more than 155,000 lives - the most in the world - acrippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwideprotests against police violence and racism.
Without evidence, Trump has repeatedly claimed increasedmail voting would be rife with fraud, remarks that have deepenedDemocrats’ fears that he will refuse to accept the electionoutcome should he lose.(Reporting by Michael MartinaEditing by Bill Berkrot)