Sen. Marco Rubio. Photo: Al-Drago-Pool/Getty Images
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in a Trump campaign press call on Saturday that he's "not concerned" about the safety of mail-in voting in Florida.
Why it matters: President Trump has blasted mail-in voting as unsafe and subject to fraud ahead of the 2020 election. The coronavirus pandemic has increased the push for mail-in voting as Americans look to socially distance and avoid crowded polling places.
- Survey research from one of Trump's campaign pollsters in May showed broad support for more absentee voting and openness to vote-by-mail expansions amid the pandemic.
Between the lines via Axios' Alayna Treene: Many Republican leaders privately admit that the president's messaging condemning mail-in voting is problematic. They recognize that absentee ballots are needed to secure necessary Republican votes, particularly with older, white voters.
- However, they assert that Trump is making a distinction between absentee ballots (which voters must request) and mail-in voting (when applications are sent out automatically), but acknowledge that most voters don't recognize the difference.