⁍ President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the idea of delaying the Nov. 3 U.S. elections.

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⁍ An idea immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress.

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⁍ Critics and even Trump’s allies dismissed the notion as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news.

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– With the US economy in the midst of its worst recession since the Great Depression, President Trump suggested Thursday that the November 3 election be delayed, Reuters reports. “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,” Trump tweeted. “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” The US has held elections for more than 200 years, including during the Civil War, the Great Depression, and two world wars. Article II of the US Constitution gives Congress the power to set the timing of elections, and the 20th Amendment ends a president and vice president’s term in office on the Jan. 20 following a general election. Multiple congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top House of Representatives Republican Kevin McCarthy, rejected the idea. “Never in the history of the federal elections have we ever not held an election and we should go forward with our election,” McCarthy said. Democratic US Representative Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House committee overseeing election security, rejected any delay. “Under no circumstances will we consider doing so to accommodate the President’s inept and haphazard response to the coronavirus pandemic, or give credence to the lies and misinformation he spreads,” Lofgren said in an email to Reuters.