During a hearing on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked by Sen.

Donald Trump at a press conference after his tweet.

"President Trump's statement that he may unlawfully delay the November election is undemocratic, un-American, and, sadly, entirely predictable", Ferguson said.

Members of the media and politicians on both sides of the aisle had condemned the president's earlier suggestion that the USA could delay the upcoming election over security concerns about mail-in ballots. Congress, not the President, has the power under the Constitution to set the date of elections, and we have done so by statute.

Democratic US Representative Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House committee overseeing election security, also rejected any delay.

President Trump tweets that mail-in voting would make for the most "inaccurate and fraudulent election in history"; John Roberts reports from the White House. "He's only trying to save his own skin and he knows he's going to lose the election, so he's calling for it to be postponed", de Blasio said. Kamala Harris-is she running for something?-tweeted that "Donald Trump is terrified".

While Prime Ministers nearly always control a majority of MPs, who are in turn expected to support the government in passing legislation, members of Congress are not generally as close to the White House. "All members of Congress - and the administration- should speak out".

Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa also told CNN: "All I can say is that, it doesn't matter what one individual in this country says".

"No, Mr. President. No".

Chairperson of the U.S. Federal Election Commission, Ms Ellen Weintraub, also said the president lacked the power to move the election.

"The reality is that with Democrats controlling the House, there will be no change in our election date, certainly between now and November". "Why don't you work on that?"

Election officials, however, say that it's more important to focus on accuracy as opposed to speed.

I don't want to see an election- you know, so many years I've been watching elections, and they say the projected victor, or the victor of the election.

Putting Rhode Island aside, imagine a scenario where the presidential race results in swing states like Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania aren't ready on Election Night.

"It's a desperate attempt to distract attention from the worsening COVID-19 crisis and an imploding economy", said presidential historian David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron.

Seeking his second consecutive term, Trump is facing a formidable challenge from Democratic nominee and former vice president Joe Biden, who, according to major national polls, is leading in double digits.

Trump, seeking to already undermine the results of an election he could lose, demanded that the victor of the November 3 contest be known that night.

"It's about voter suppression, it's about advanced delegitimization of the election, and it's about creating conspiracy theories that would justify his refusal to accept the verdict of an election", Welch said.

Wisconsin's Republican legislative leaders and the state's longest-serving Republican in Congress broke with President Donald Trump on Thursday when he floated the idea of delaying the November 3 presidential election.

Some states already have all-mail elections without any issues, while all but a handful of states have expanded their rules about voting by mail to allow anyone to cast a mail ballot amid the pandemic.