White House condemns Hong Kong for election postponement decision

• White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that the White House condemned Hong Kong’s decision to postpone its legislative council elections for one year.
• One day earlier, President Donald Trump suggested in a tweet that the US should delay its presidential election over his baseless claim that mail-in voting is fraudulent.
• President Trump does not have the power to delay the November presidential election.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

One day after President Donald Trump suggested delaying the November US presidential election, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press conference that the White House condemned Hong Kong’s decision to postpone its legislative council elections for one year.

“We condemn the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone for one year its legislative council elections and to disqualify opposition candidates,” McEnany said Friday after a reporter asked whether Trump supported the move to delay the elections.

“This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong’s prosperity,” she said, according to a transcript of the press conference produced by the White House.

Read more: Hong Kong just delayed its elections in a blow to democracy with unsettling parallels to Trump

President Trump does not have the power to delay the November presidential election, as Business Insider has previously reported, and he floated his Thursday suggestion over his baseless claims that mail-in voting is fraudulent.

Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, cited concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in the decision to delay the election initially slated for September, which will now be held in September 2021.

The move was widely seen as a setback for the pro-democracy movement that has been building there while China tightens its grip on Hong Kong.