Kellyanne Conway, a former aide to Donald Trump, had some advice for the former president while appearing on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday.
Trump is the presumed Republican presidential nominee, which means November will likely be an election rematch between him and President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent.
Conway suggested that Trump utilize early voting when he casts his own ballot in his new home state of Florida. Early voting is a process by which people can vote before Election Day either by mail-in ballot or in person. Early voting regulations depend on the individual state.
"I hope President Trump and Mrs. Trump will go and vote early in Florida, the first day they're eligible to vote early because when the lion roars, the others will follow," Conway told comedian and show host Bill Maher. "His voters will say, 'oh, well, now President Trump voted early, I can too.' I don't like early voting, but if this is the new normal, you adapt or die politically."
Conway was Trump's 2016 campaign manager and served as his senior counselor in the White House. She is currently a Fox News contributor.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
According to the Pew Research Center, 46 percent of voters used mail-in or absentee ballots in the 2020 presidential election, with more Biden voters using this method than Trump voters.
Conway made similar comments on Fox Business' Mornings With Maria in March where she encouraged Trump and his wife Melania Trump to "make a big spectacle" by voting early in Florida.
In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Trump criticized mail-in ballots and continued to do so for years.
When asked at a September 2020 press briefing if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power, he said, "We're going to have to see what happens." He then went into a rant about mail-in ballots, calling the voting process "out of control."
The next day he told reporters that mail-in ballots were a "big scam" and claimed that "they throw them out if they have the name 'Trump' on it."
There is no evidence to suggest that mail-in ballots are not a safe voting practice or that there was fraud in the 2020 election, including that valid ballots were thrown away.
However, last month, Trump encouraged his supporters to participate in early voting.
"ABSENTEE VOTING, EARLY VOTING, AND ELECTION DAY VOTING ARE ALL GOOD OPTIONS," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, in April. "REPUBLICANS MUST MAKE A PLAN, REGISTER, AND VOTE!"
Trump has continued to make false claims that Biden's 2020 election victory was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud despite there being no evidence of this.
Meanwhile, Maher asked Conway on Friday: "So, let's say [Trump] wins. It's at least a 50/50. Will he relinquish power in 2028?"
"Yes. 2029. January 20, 2029," she replied.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
