Trump suggests delaying election over coronavirus, 'fraudulent voting'

US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested delaying the 2020 election, in which he is currently lagging badly in the polls, citing the coronavirus and what he said would be "fraudulent" voting.

"Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???" Trump asked in a tweet.

"With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA," the tweet said.

The president's remarks came as Washington reported that the US economy had contracted 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

The decline, though slightly less bad than expected, was the worst on record, dating back to 1947. The Commerce Department figures are an annual rate so not comparable to the quarterly contractions reported in other advanced economies.

The plunge in GDP was driven largely by the drop in consumer spending, the largest component, which fell 34.6 percent annualised, according to the first estimate for the second quarter.

The United States is by far the worst-hit country in the world by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 4.2 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and nearly 150,000 deaths.

Though the number of new cases has leveled off over the past few days, the US has failed to push its curve down as other nations have done through lockdowns and physical distancing.

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