Despite falling poll numbers, President Donald Trump is hoping to continue appealing to his conservative base by pushing forward issues he campaigned on during his presidential runs. His latest target: eliminating mail-in ballots, which he called corrupt while answering questions from reporters after meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Monday.

Erin O’Brien, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said the president getting rid of voting by mail, which has been present since the Civil War, would be unconstitutional, as the way elections are held is regulated by state legislatures, not the federal government.

“Donald Trump – the president – has zero role in this,” O’Brien said. “Why is he doing it? I honestly think it’s because he thinks the midterms aren’t going to go his way. But honestly, he’s just had a thing about mail-in voting since 2020. I think in his heart of hearts, he doesn’t like it and he feels like it doesn’t advantage Republicans, even though the data suggests otherwise in 2024.”

In the last presidential election, Republican mail-in voting increased by 9 percent.

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a major player in the political clapback against Trump and his policies on social media, aping the president’s frequent messages to his followers on Truth Social. Newsom and his team have been poking fun at Trump and his posts by sharing their own messages, AI-generated photos and videos and snarky responses.

Jerold Duquette, professor of political science at Central Connecticut State University, said he thinks Newsom will continue his pushback on Trump on social media, as long as his constituents and other Democrats around the country continue to respond positively. And Duquette said Newsom’s posts may also have another effect on potential voters.

“It will have sort of a waking-up effect, at least marginally, on folks who are not paying attention,” Duquette said. “That is the classic hope of political comedy. This is actually a governor of one of the largest states, and he’s a serious contender for the presidency, and he’s doing this himself, so I think it might have a little longer staying power.”

And in local politics, the Boston mayoral race is heating up, as the campaigns of incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu and lead challenger Josh Kraft accuse each other of campaign-finance violations.

Although it’s unlikely that the Kraft campaign’s allegations against the Wu campaign will shape the outcome of the election, retired political science professor Maurice Cunningman said these allegations show that the Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) needs to step in.

“There is a prohibition in the campaign-finance legislation that keeps OCPF from referring a matter to the Attorney General within 120 days of the election,” Cunningham said. “But what OCPF has been doing is kind of hiding behind that and saying, ‘Well, we really can’t do much before an election.’ And that’s not the case. The effect of billions [of dollars] on our political campaigns has become so critical that I think it overweighs any concern OCPF has about being dragged into a campaign. OCPF needs to do its job. And the people of Boston should hear about that from OCPF before they cast their votes.”

Under The Radar with Callie Crossley brings you an hour of national and local political analysis with the Mass Politics Profs. Hit the audio player above to listen.

Guests

  • Erin O’Brien, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Jerold Duquette, professor of political science and director of the Public Policy & Management Concentration at Central Connecticut State University
  • Maurice “Mo” Cunningham, retired professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

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