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WASHINGTON – President Trump said on Tuesday he would forgive Susan B. Anthony, the women’s suffragist who was arrested after voting illegally in 1872 and charged with a $ 100 fine, as he tried to appeal to voters on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving the right to vote.
Grace appears to be an effort to distract attention from the Democratic National Convention and narrow the historically significant gender gap that has him following Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the race for the White House.
“She has never been pardoned. Did you know? She has never been pardoned, ”Mr. Trump said. “What took so long?”
Mr Trump teased forgiveness as he traveled on Air Force One on Monday, telling reporters he was going to erase the conviction of someone “very, very important.”
Ms Anthony was tried for voting illegally and protested against the fine imposed on her.
“She was guilty of voting,” Mr. Trump said, “and we will sign a full and complete pardon.”
Unlike other pardons the President has bestowed, Ms. Anthony is not someone Mr. Trump has talked about working in his campaign or during his presidency.
She is also an increasingly controversial figure, adopted by anti-abortion forces and criticized for sidelining black suffragists. Tuesday, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political group, and Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who represents conservative groups, were present as Mr. Trump made his announcement.
He has pardoned or granted clemency to a number of people he knows personally or people whose cases speak to him, such as former Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, who was serving a related jail sentence to a conviction for corruption. Mr Trump recently granted clemency to his longtime political advisor Roger J. Stone Jr., who was convicted of several counts arising from the investigation into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign and officials Russian. Grace for Mrs. Anthony would be on the 26th of her presidency.
Mr. Trump, who has been repeatedly accused of harassment or sexual assault and who has often made degrading comments about women, faces a deep gender gap in his campaign against Mr. Biden. On Tuesday, surrounded by several female supporters, Mr. Trump said that “women dominate the United States” and complained that the coronavirus had darkened the economic situation of women.
But Tuesday’s event did not stay on the theme of women’s suffrage for long.
Asked by reporters about the concept of postal voting, Mr Trump attacked the practice, mistakenly claiming that dogs and cats had received mass ballots, before inviting Ms Mitchell, whom he called of “one of the great lawyers”, at the podium to speak.
“We can all name several times we sent a letter across town and it didn’t get there or came back undeliverable,” Ms. Mitchell said. “We should have election day, we shouldn’t have a three-month election, and we should definitely be able to know on election night who won.”
People close to the president have said Mr. Trump is looking to create a story at the Democrats’ convention, where Mr. Biden will be appointed. Advisers believe that unlike some of Mr. Trump’s other pardons or clemency grants, it will be more difficult to criticize an action for the benefit of a woman whose actions contributed to women’s suffrage.
Whether this is the case remains to be seen. Mr Trump has experienced erosion with a key group of voters – suburban women – during his presidency, and his response to the coronavirus pandemic has not helped him.
But at Tuesday’s event, Mr. Trump turned his attention to the Democratic convention, criticizing former first lady Michelle Obama for a speech the day before in which she said Mr. Trump “could not meet this moment ”and which the presidency, she said, was threatening. the future of the country.
“She was over her head and frankly she should have done the speech live, which she did not,” Mr. Trump said. “I thought it was a very controversial, extremely divisive speech.”
If President Barack Obama had done a better job, Mr. Trump said, then he wouldn’t have been elected four years ago and “build buildings somewhere” and “have a good time.”
He then claimed that the Obama administration had received “very bad reviews” for its handling of the H1N1 epidemic, although about two-thirds of Americans polled at the time said the administration had responded well. .
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