The Hill’s Campaign Report: Trump hedges with Post Office funding | Harris speaks with 19th | An apology of sorts in Massachusetts

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail. 

Will the Post Office deliver your ballot? 

The dominant story all day has been the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and whether it will be able to handle what is expected to be a huge wave of mail-in ballots given the coronavirus crisis.  

President Trump at a news conference said he was willing to give the USPS more money — but only if Democrats give in on their demands in coronavirus relief talks. 

Hours after Trump spoke, The Washington Post reported the USPS had sent letters to 46 states and the District of Columbia warning that delivery delays could mean that some ballots cast by mail in the November election won’t arrive in time to be counted.

That raises the possibility that many voters who request, receive and return mail ballots in accordance with state deadlines could be disenfranchised, not because they ran afoul of election rules, but because of delivery delays caused by a Postal Service under increasing financial and logistical strains. 

Democrats are already on edge about Postal Service funding and the agency’s ability to operate efficiently this fall, when a historic number of Americans are expected to cast their votes by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic and the public health risks associated with traditional in-person voting.

Many are worrying aloud about the possibility that Trump may be trying to sabotage the Postal Service in an effort to hamper mail voting, which he has claimed is responsible for widespread voter fraud. 

Obama weighs in

“What we’ve never seen before is a president say: ‘I’m going to try to actively kneecap the Postal Service to encourage voting, and I will be explicit about the reason I’m doing it,’ former President Barack Obama said in an interview with his former campaign manager David Plouffe on Friday. “That’s sort of unheard of, right? And we also have not had an election in the midst of a pandemic that is still deadly and killing a lot of people and we still don’t know the long-term side effects of contracting the illness.”

The Postal Service says it “is well prepared and has ample capacity to deliver America’s election mail.”

But Martha Johnson, a spokesperson for the agency, acknowledged the tall order it faces with so much election mail expected this fall, saying that USPS officials are advising “election officials to be mindful of the potential inconsistencies between the Postal Service’s delivery standards, which have been in place for a number of years and have not changed, and the provisions of state law.”

HARRIS SPEAKS WITH THE 19TH* NEWS 

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) gave her first sitdown interview as Joe Biden’s running mate to the 19th* News on Friday as a part of the outlet’s inaugural summit. 

What Harris said was interesting, but more notable was her choice to give her first interview to the 19th. 

Why it matters: Harris’s selection of the outlet highlights the significance of her position as the first African American and Asian American woman on a presidential ticket in the U.S. The 19th* launched this year with a mission to report on gender, politics and policy. Its name pays homage to the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, but the asterisk is a means of acknowledging that the right was not extended to women of color.

Harris touched on a number of topics including the historical nature of her candidacy and praised Biden for having “the audacity to choose a Black woman to be his running mate.” 

When asked what she would fight for if she was elected the first female vice president, Harris said: “Everything.” 

CONVENTION COUNTERPROGRAMMING: 

When Democrats tune in to their national convention next week, don’t expect Trump to sit on the sidelines.

The president’s team announced a three-state campaign swing from Aug. 17-18, in which Trump is expected to highlight “Joe Biden’s record of failure.” The tour will take him through Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday and Arizona on Tuesday. In a more pointed move, Trump is expected to travel to Scranton, Pa. — the city where Biden was born — on Thursday, the same day that the former vice president will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination.  

The Hill’s Brett Samuels has more on Trump’s counterprogramming plans here.

While we’re talking about conventions…

Join The Hill at our virtual 2020 Conventions Hub — your digital headquarters for exciting events and the latest conventions news. We’ll kick off each day with The Big Questions. Party leaders, pollsters and campaign veterans join our editors to discuss the political and policy issues shaping our nation. Stay tuned in for our afternoon briefings — deeper dives into the key policy areas that will shape the 2020 campaign including energy, affordable housing and the ongoing response to COVID-19. Check out the full schedule and RSVP now to hold your spot!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MA-01 HOUSE RACE: 

The College Democrats of Massachusetts said it was sorry for any homophobic responses that congressional candidate Alex Morse had to deal with in response to allegations he behaved inappropriately with UMass Amherst students. The group said it still believed the allegations against Morse were legitimate, 

Morse thanked the group in another letter, noting that he did not believe he had done anything wrong but understood why students may have felt pressured in certain situations.  

Key Context: 

• Morse was accused of inappropriate behavior with students in a letter from the College Democrats one week ago
• The accusations resulted in the progressive Sunrise Movement suspending campaigning on his behalf 
• The Intercept reported on Wednesday that the UMass College Democrats had discussed ways to sabotage the campaign as far back as October, suggesting the accusations were engineered
• Morse’s campaign announced on Friday it raised a record $257,000 from more than 7,500 donations in the week since the allegations broke
• Morse is challenging Rep. Richard Neal for his seat. The two will debate on Monday

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

We’re 3 days away from the beginning of the Democratic National Convention, 10 days from the beginning of the Republican National Convention, 46 days from the first presidential debate and 81 days out from Election Day. 

DNC Music Festival? 

Coachella 2020 may have been put off because of COVID but next week’s virtual musical lineup at the DNC will likely fill a void for music lovers. The Democrats have a packed lineup, including John Legend, Billie Eilish, Common, The Chicks, Leon Bridges, Jennifer Hudson and Stephen Stills.