WASHINGTON – President Trump said on Tuesday that he would forgive Susan B. Anthony, the female suffragist, who was arrested after he voted illegally in 1872 and fined $ 100 for trying to appeal do on female voters on the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment their right to vote.
The pardon turned out to be an attempt to divert from the Democratic National Convention and limit the historically large gender divide that followed him Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the White House race.
‘She was never forgiven. Did you know that? “She was never forgiven,” he said. “What took so long?”
Mr. Trump apologized when he traveled on Air Force One on Monday, telling reporters he would “one, very important” conviction of one.
Mrs Anthony was tried for illegal voting, and protested the fine she was charged.
“She was guilty of voting,” he said. Trump, “and we will sign a full and complete pardon.”
Unlike other pardons given by the President, Mrs. Anthony is not one whose work Mr. Trump has spoken about in his campaign as during his presidency.
She is also an increasingly divisive figure, adopted by anti-abortion forces and criticized for relegating Black suffragists to the sidelines. On Tuesday, Marjorie Dannenfelser, chairwoman of the Susan B. Anthony List, a political group against abortion, and Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer representing conservative groups, were present when Mr. Trump made his announcement.
He has pleaded guilty or admitted to a number of people he knew personally or to people whose affairs resonate with him, such as the former governor of Illinois, Rod R. Blagojevich, who had served a prison sentence in connection with conviction on charges. of corruption. Mr. Trump recently gave evidence to his longtime political adviser, Roger J. Stone Jr., who was convicted on several charges stemming from the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The pardon for Mrs. Anthony would be the 26th of his presidency.
Mr. Trump, who has been repeatedly accused of sexual harassment or assault and who has often made derogatory remarks about women, is facing a deep gender stalemate in his campaign against Mr Biden. On Tuesday, surrounded by several female supporters, Mr Trump declared that “women dominate the United States” and complained that the coronavirus had obscured the economic picture for women.
But the event on Tuesday did not stay long on the topic of women’s suffrage.
When asked by reporters about the concept of voting via mail, Mr. Trump attacked the practice, falsely claiming that dogs and cats were given votes to vote en masse, before Ms. Mitchell, whom he called “one of the great lawyers,” was invited to the pop stage to speak.
“All of us can appoint multiple times if we have sent a letter about the city and it did not come or did not return,” Ms. claimed. Mitchell. “We should have election day, we should have no elections for three months, and we should certainly be able to know by election night who won.”
People close to the president said Mr. Trump was looking to make a news story during the Democrats’ convention, where Mr. Biden will be nominated. Advisers believed that in contrast to some of the other pardons or subsidies of Mr. Trump, it will be harder to criticize an action that benefits a woman whose actions have helped women’s suffrage.
Whether that is the case remains to be seen. Mr. Trump has seen an erosion with a significant group of women voters – suburban women – during his presidency, and his response to the coronavirus pandemic has not helped him.
But during the event on Tuesday, Mr. Trump turned his attention to the Democratic convention, criticizing former First Lady Michelle Obama for a speech she made earlier in the evening, in which she said Mr. Trump “cannot at this moment. and “whose presidency she said threatened the future of the country.
“She was over her head and honestly she should have made the speech live which she did not,” Mr. Trump said. “I thought it was a very divisive speech, extremely divisive.”
If President Barack Obama had done a better job, Mr. Trump said, he would not have been elected four years ago and would “build buildings somewhere” and “have a good time.”
He then claimed that the Obama administration had received “very bad reviews” about its handling of the H1N1 outbreak, although roughly two-thirds of Americans at the time said the administration had responded well.
