President Donald Trump blames Amazon over the issues at the US Postal Service. He also said that delivery rates must increase to offset delivery costs.
“Amazon and other companies like it, they come and they drop all of their mail into a post office,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” “They drop packages into the post office by the thousands and then they say, ‘Here, you deliver them.’ We lose $3 and $4 a package on average. We lose massive amounts of money.”
There have been concerns that the White House has been interfering with the post office in order to influence the voting process in the November presidential election.
The Postal Service has eradicated hundreds of mail-processing machines across the country and told dozens of states that it is not capable of processing mail-in ballots in time to be counted in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Moreover, the Postal Service has been encountering widespread mail delays and losing a lot financially as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump said the post office could address its financial woes by increasing delivery rates to offset delivery costs caused by online retailers. “This guy is supposed to be so wealthy, so let him pay for it,” Trump added, appearing to refer to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Coronavirus relief funding
Trump explained that the root of skewed negotiations on the additional coronavirus relief funding is that Democrats call for billions of dollars to support the USPS and mail-in voting efforts.
“They need that money in order to have the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said during an interview with Fox Business. “But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”
“If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money, that means they can’t have universal mail-in voting. They just can’t have it,” Trump said. “Sort of a crazy thing. Very interesting.”
Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi urges the House to return to session this week to tackle a bill stopping the US from making any changes to operations or level of service.
“In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central. Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote,” she wrote.
"Calculated dismantling"
Even pop superstar Taylor Swift slammed Trump over his statement on the funding of the USPS.
Swift took to Twitter to express her dismay over Trump’s “calculated dismantling” of the USPS and “ineffective leadership” that worsened the coronavirus outbreak in the US.
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president. He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power,” Swift wrote.
“Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early,” she added.
