This is a new low: President Trump just threatened to illegally withhold federal funding from states that encourage voting by mail. This may include COVID-19 relief funding -- allocated to help frontline workers and everyday Americans through this crisis.

In Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sent an absentee ballot application to every eligible voter in the state. This common-sense practice -- which is also done in red states like Georgia, Iowa, and Nebraska -- helps voters exercise their right to be heard in our democracy.

But Trump lashed out on Twitter, targeting Benson -- as well as officials in Nevada -- over their efforts to help voters safely cast their ballots by mail in November.

He spouted his usual baseless, unsubstantiated claims that vote-by-mail is partisan -- which it isn’t. And he said he’d “hold up funding” to these states if officials didn’t go along with his anti-vote-by-mail crusade.

While Trump didn’t specify what “funding” he was referring to -- many are speculating that he meant future COVID-19 relief funding from Congress. [1]

Trump’s threats are outrageous -- they demonstrate that once again, the president wants to abuse his power to advance his personal, financial, and political interests. And they’re hypocritical, too -- Trump himself used an absentee ballot to vote in Florida’s primary this year.

Public outcry in response to Trump’s remarks already forced him to start to walk them back -- but even while doing so, he doubled down on his attacks on vote-by-mail. We hope that election officials who are doing their best to protect voters don’t back down in the face of Trump’s threats.

We won’t let Trump bully states into giving him what he wants -- especially at the expense of frontline workers and other hardworking Americans. Add your name to stand with those state officials who encourage vote-by-mail.

1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/20/trump-just-said-corrupt-part-out-loud/