Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway says Republicans must adapt to early voting or they will “die politically.”
Appearing on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, Conway was asked about Donald Trump’s change of heart when it comes to mail in voting after the former president posted on his Truth Social, “ABSENTEE VOTING, EARLY VOTING, AND ELECTION DAY VOTING ARE ALL GOOD OPTIONS. REPUBLICANS MUST MAKE PLAN, REGISTER AND VOTE!”
“I hope President Trump and Mrs. Trump will go and vote early in Florida, on the first day they’re eligible, to vote early because when the lion roars, the others will follow,” Conway said. “His voters will say, ‘oh, well, now President Trump went early, I can too.’”
Trump’s statement marks a notable shift in tone. Following the Iowa caucuses in January, he said in his victory speech: "We have to get rid of mail-in ballots because once you have mail-in ballots, you have crooked elections.”
The American electorate drastically changed its voting patterns in 2020 with a substantial increase in mail-in balloting and a continued rise in early voting. According to Census Bureau data analyzed by MIT, 46% of voting in the 2020 Presidential Election was by mail-in balloting, more than double the previous election. Only 28% of Americans voted on election day in person.
Conway said she believes early voting is “taking a chance” but if an elderly voter who can’t get “out of the bathroom, let alone out of the house” won’t vote without mail-in systems, she wants “that sucker’s vote in October.”
“So, I don’t like early voting, but if this is the new normal, you adapt or you die politically,” she said.
Trump Campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita noted in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates that by the time the first debate on September 16, 2024, is held, over 1 million Americans will have likely voted. When the final proposed debate is held on October 9, 2024, they estimate 8.7 million Americans will have already voted.
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