Trump promotes early voting for the presidential elections: 'We will use all appropriate tools to defeat the Democrats'

Unlike the 2020 presidential elections, when Donald Trump heavily criticized early voting and voting by mail, the Republican appears to be taking another stance in his attempt to return to the White House, ensuring that the GOP must use "all the appropriate tools to defeat the Democrats."

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) are very clear about the importance of this type of voting for the November elections. With this in mind, they jointly announced the launch of what they call "Swamp The Vote USA" to improve the perception of Republican voters.

This program, announced on social media, replaces "Bank Your Vote," a similar initiative implemented during Ronna McDaniel's tenure as head of the RNC.

Indeed, at least in recent election cycles, Democrats used early and mail-in voting much more than Republicans, who opted to show up in person on voting day to cast their ballot.

As Trump said in a statement, "whether you vote absentee, by mail, early in-person or on election day, we are going to protect the vote."

"We make sure your ballot is secure and your voice is heard. We must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout. The way to win is to swamp them, if we swamp them with votes they can't cheat. You need to make a plan, register, and vote any way possible. We have got to get your vote. (...) The Republicans must win and we will use all the appropriate tools to defeat the Democrats because they are destroying our country," he added.

From Youngkin to Trump

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was perhaps the first Republican to try to change the Republican approach to mail-in voting and early voting.

In mid-2023, facing the legislative elections in which the GOP did not obtain the best results, Youngkin promoted a campaign called "Secure your vote," an attempt to bring the Republican electorate closer to this way of voting that was so criticized in 2020.

"We started behind because the Democrats had started embracing early voting a long time ago. But I've also given everybody a real free pass to come vote early, get a mail-in ballot and just make sure that your vote is cast and secured by taking advantage of these rules," he said at the time.

In October 2023, POLITICO predicted that the Republican governor's campaign could positively impact the 2024 presidential elections. "It's a reversal of the message Republicans have been pounding in recent years. And if Youngkin and his political operation can succeed, it could have profound implications for the rest of the party — not just in Virginia, but nationally ahead of next year's presidential election," they noted.