Trump urges supporters to vote by mail despite fraud claims

President Donald Trump encouraged supporters on ​Saturday and again on Monday to vote ​by mail if they wanted, a ‌change of ​tone for the US president, who has for years described mail-in voting as a practice rife with fraud.

Speaking to reporters at the White ‌House before departing for a rally in Nebraska on Monday afternoon, Trump said his supporters could vote by mail in the coming congressional midterm elections on November 3, even as he said he preferred in-person voting. "They can ‌vote by mail if they want, because we seem to have no choice because a lot ‌of people want to vote by mail, but a lot of very good people also want to vote in-person," Trump said. "You can do either."

The comments came after he posted a campaign video over the weekend encouraging Republicans to vote. "Vote early, vote ⁠by ​mail or vote in-person ⁠on Election Day, November 3rd," Trump said.

It was not immediately clear why Trump changed his tone. The president has repeatedly made ⁠false claims that his 2020 election defeat was the result of voter fraud, including with mail-in ballots. The Trump administration ​tried to significantly tighten the rules governing mail-in voting heading into the midterm elections, though the ⁠Supreme Court in September declined to allow the Postal Service to enforce the new rules. Some Republicans have in the past ⁠expressed ​concern that discouraging mail-in voting could reduce turnout among conservative rural voters, a core part of Trump's base, some of whom live relatively far from polling stations.

Republicans are entering the final weeks of ⁠the campaign in a difficult national political environment. A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday found Trump's approval rating ⁠at 32%, holding at September's ⁠record low, while registered voters preferred Democrats over Republicans 44% to 37% when asked which party they would support in the midterms. Among independents, Democrats led ‌37% to 21%, ‌with 28% undecided.