Trump raises possibility of delaying U.S. election in November

U.S. President Donald Trump raised the possibility on Thursday of delaying the country's presidential election in November, alleging that "universal mail-in voting" will make the 2020 election "the most inaccurate and fraudulent" in history.

"It will be a great embarrassment to the USA," he continued. "Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

The tweet, released on the same day when the Commerce Department reported a 32.9-percent collapse of the U.S. economy in the second quarter, has been immediately questioned and drawn bipartisan pushback.

U.S. Senator Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico, tweeted that there is no way Trump can delay the election and that he was trying to distract the public from his handling of the pandemic, while U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill that he does not think that is a particularly good idea.

According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress "may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day of which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States."

Since 1845, the U.S. Congress has required the appointment of presidential electors to take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which is Nov. 3 this year.

Trump's tweet on Thursday was his latest allegation that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud, as many states have expanded access to mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 4.4 million people in the United States and killed 150,000 of them.

National polls have shown that Trump is falling behind his Democratic opponent, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in the 2020 race.

According to the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Biden leads Trump 50.1 percent to 41.9 percent as of Thursday. Polls in key battlegrounds, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Arizona, also showed that Biden is ahead of Trump by at least several points.

Trump has repeatedly called polls showing him trailing Biden fake.