Taylor Swift Taylor Alison SwiftThe Memo: Trump attacks on Harris risk backfiring The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Mnuchin previews GOP coronavirus relief package Celebrities should steer their star power to get out the youth vote MORE on Saturday tore into President Trump Donald John TrumpUPS, FedEx shut down calls to handle mail-in ballots, warn of 'significant' problems: report Controversial GOP Georgia candidate attempts to distance from QAnon Trump orders TikTok parent company to sell US assets within 90 days MORE, saying he is engaging in a “calculated dismantling” of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and accusing him of trying to “blatantly cheat” the election.
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” the pop star wrote on Twitter. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
Swift tweeted that Trump’s “ineffective leadership” has worsened the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“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 concluded.
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. — Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) August 15, 2020
The fiery condemnation comes after Trump this week suggested that he was unwilling to make a deal with Democrats on a coronavirus stimulus bill including USPS funding because it would prevent universal mail-in voting during the election.
Trump has for weeks made exaggerated and inaccurate claims about mail-in voting, saying that the election will be "rigged" and "fraudulent” if Americans use the practice. Experts have insisted that there is no meaningful evidence suggesting mail-in voting contributes to voter fraud.
After several days of mixed signals, Trump on Friday said he would approve USPS funding if Democrats make other concessions.
Despite his attacks on the practice, the president and first lady Melania Trump Melania TrumpRomney breaks with Trump's criticism of mail-in voting Pelosi calls Trump attacks on mail-in voting a 'domestic assault on our Constitution' Trump requests mail-in ballot for Florida congressional primary MORE requested mail-in ballots for the upcoming Florida congressional primary.
Trump’s new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy Louis DeJoyTaylor Swift: Trump's 'calculated dismantling' of USPS proves he's trying to 'blatantly cheat' election DC protesters stage 'wake-up call' outside home of postmaster general Senate Democrat calls for end of recess amid warning about mail-in ballot delays MORE, a prominent Trump and GOP donor, is being reviewed by the agency's inspector general for a series of changes he implemented that Democrats say could slow mail delivery and impact mail-in voting in the fall.
Rep. Bill Pascrell William (Bill) James PascrellHouse Democrat files criminal referral accusing Trump of subverting election 'This already exists': Democrats seize on potential Trump executive order on preexisting conditions Lawmakers urge administration to remove tariffs on European wine and spirits amid coronavirus pandemic MORE (D-N.J.) announced on Friday that he had made a criminal referral to the New Jersey attorney general calling for a grand jury investigation into Trump and DeJoy, alleging they have possibly subverted the November election.
Swift, who released her surprise “Folklore” album last month, has emerged as a political activist and vocal critic of the president after breaking her years-long silence on politics during the 2018 midterm elections.
In May, she accused him of "stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism" with his comments about protests in Minneapolis.
In behind-the-scenes clips from her Netflix documentary, “Miss Americana,” the songwriter discussed her decision to actively work against the president.
Swift’s publicist warned her that Trump could level attacks against her if she spoke out against him.
“F--- that,” Swift fired back. “I don’t care.”
RebornPastafarian on August 15th, 2020 at 19:18 UTC »
Getting rid of the USPS will utterly fuck over a huge number of people in rural areas.
The USPS handles "last-mile" delivery for UPS and FedEx for a huge portion of the US. Not population-wise, but by area.
Take Octonto, Nebraska. Population ~150.
They have a Post Office.
Neither FedEx nor UPS have a dropoff location.
The nearest FedEx or UPS dropoff locations are twenty miles away.
Get rid of the post office and mailing a letter to that town will go from $0.50 to $5.00, at least. Today it costs $0.50 for a State of Nebraska office to mail a letter to a resident in Oconto using the USPS, or $10 to send that same letter through UPS. I'm pretending that for some reason they would reduce their prices, but we all know they wouldn't.
What about a closer location? Oconto is 180 miles from Lincoln. Valparaiso is only 23 miles from Lincoln. Again, $0.50 to mail a letter using the USPS, but UPS is $10. FedEx is $20.
Amazon would not exist without the USPS. We would not have AWS, we would not have Kindles, we would not have Amazon Prime TV shows and South Lake Union in Seattle would still be a run-down eyesore of a neighborhood. I'm not circle-jerking how great Amazon is, they have their own problems, but they are the perfect example of how a service like the USPS can set a business up for success.
Just because the USPS's balance sheet isn't in black doesn't mean it doesn't generate more money than it costs. Amazon employees several hundred thousand Americans and that would never have happened if the USPS hadn't been around when they started. The tax revenue generated solely from Amazon's payroll is justification enough for the USPS.
USPS locations, UPS dropoff locations, cost comparisons: https://imgur.com/a/XMs7NrA
thebabyparrot on August 15th, 2020 at 18:38 UTC »
She has nearly 90 million Twitter followers. This is now signal boosted into something you couldn't possibly imagine. Whew.
lucynyu13 on August 15th, 2020 at 18:32 UTC »
“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” the pop star wrote on Twitter. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”
“He is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early,” the singer concluded.
VOTE EARLY!!!