'Afraid of losing', Trump calls for postponing the 2020 election?

In a statement on Twitter on July 30, US President Donald Trump called for postponing the 2020 election, citing allegations of fraud in mail-in voting, and said that the election in November should be postponed "until people can vote properly, securely and safely."

However, Republican leaders in Congress immediately rejected the idea. President Trump does not have the authority to delay the election and any delay would have to be approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Some observers say Trump's re-election prospects look increasingly bleak with less than 100 days to go before the election. According to analyst John Haltiwanger on Business Insider, President Trump is trying to convince the American people that the Democratic Party is trying to cheat the election by promoting the form of voting by mail. This way, if President Trump loses on November 3, Trump can say the above results are fake.

Still, Mr Trump's Twitter suggestion to postpone the election may be testing the loyalty of his Republican allies in Congress at a time when his approval ratings are plummeting.

Although Republicans have occasionally criticized the president, they have largely avoided public debate. But after President Trump suggested postponing the November presidential election, Republicans spoke out against the proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said: "Never in the history of our country have we failed to hold a federal election on time, not even during war, depression or the Civil War, and we will find a way to do that on November 3."

Asked whether the November 3 election was a “fixed” date, Mr. McConnell replied: “Yes.”

"We will handle any situation and the November 3 election will take place as planned," the Senate majority leader said.

"I think the president is really concerned about his re-election prospects. That's what he's going through," said Vin Weber, a Republican strategist, adding that Trump is afraid of falling behind and losing, so he made such an unwise comment about postponing the election.

According to the average of FiveThirtyEight's surveys, President Trump's approval rating has dropped to 40% this month, while according to some other surveys, this number is only above 30%.

The economy, which Republicans see as the strongest pillar of Mr Trump's re-election bid, has been in decline since March, and in the second quarter, US gross domestic product (GDP) fell 9.5%.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst leads Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield by 3 points in a Des Moines Register poll last week. The Republican senator felt confident in January that she would win reelection, but now that President Trump's approval ratings in the state have fallen, that prospect is looking increasingly uncertain.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham - a close ally of President Trump - also disagreed with the proposal to postpone the election: "I think delaying the election is probably not a good idea."

Mr. McConnell and Mr. Graham both have the upper hand in this year’s election. Although they are running in staunchly Republican states, both face well-funded opponents in an unpredictable political environment.

Other Republicans also expressed disapproval of President Trump's proposal.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said election fraud is "a serious problem and we will fight it and stop it, but we should not delay the election."