Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms suggested Monday that President Donald Trump is removing post office boxes to “domestically interfere with the election process” and CNN’s Jake Tapper offered no pushback.
Lance Bottoms’ comments came on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and echoed a conspiracy theory that has been pushed by prominent Democrats, Trump critics and celebrities. The theory suggests that Trump and the administration are attempting to interfere with mail collection boxes to affect the mail-in voting system.
Although these accusations do not appear to hold water, Lance Bottoms asserted Monday that the president was taking part in the alleged scene. Tapper did not push her on the claim, instead moving over to the topic of CNN’s recent poll, which showed former Vice President Joe Biden just four points ahead of Trump.
“Well, what I’m saying with Donald Trump is this elevation of this authoritarian reign,” Lance Bottoms said. “The removing of post office boxes so that you can domestically interfere with the election process. That’s not a democracy. But what’s happened over the past four years is that he’s begun to normalize this type of behavior.”
“And when you see democracy’s in trouble, it’s not with one move, it’s with a series of moves. And this is the most recent move on behalf of Donald Trump,” she claimed, despite evidence. “And it’s the reason we can’t take it for four more years.”
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Tapper did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.
Despite some pushing the theory, it has seen pushback from many others. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board denounced the “evidence-free conspiracy theory” Monday evening. The board called out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats for pushing the claim. (RELATED: NYT Op-Ed from Former Postal Service Regulator Urges Americans To ‘Be Calm’ Amid ‘Alarmists’ Pushing USPS Conspiracy Theory)
Following the controversy, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced Tuesday that changes to the USPS will be suspended until after the 2020 election.
DeJoy said this was to “avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail” and reiterated that the Postal Service is equipped “today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall.”