Jimmy Fallon ridicules Trump’s claim 2020 election could be delayed: ‘It’s not the release date for Bill & Ted 3!’

‘I don’t think Trump wants to leave. He’s like that friend who’s been crashing at your house for a while but keeps dropping hints he might need some more time’

Jimmy Fallon has ridiculed Donald Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election could be delayed.

The host addressed the topic on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

On Thursday, Mr Trump sought to delegitimise the results of the 2020 vote, relying on unfounded claims that mail-in ballots would lead to fraudulent results. “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” he wrote.

Only Congress has the authority to amend the date of a planned presidential election.

“He wants to delay the election,” Fallon said with a dismayed chuckle. “It’s the presidential election. It’s not the release date for Bill & Ted 3!”

The release of Bill & Ted 3, also known as Bill & Ted Face the Music, had to be amended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The film is now scheduled for release online and in select cinemas on 1 September.

“Americans were like, ‘How long a delay are we talking here?’” Fallon continued.

“Months, like your response to Covid? Years, like your response to Putin? Or decades, like a hug for Don Jr?”

Fallon then remarked: “I don’t think Trump wants to leave. He’s like that friend who’s been crashing at your house for a while but keeps dropping hints he might need some more time.”

Critics and even Mr Trump’s allies have dismissed the president’s tweet as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news and falling poll numbers, but some legal experts warned that his repeated attacks could undermine his supporters’ faith in the election process.

Mr Trump’s statement on Twitter comes as the US is enduring a multi-pronged, once-in-a-generation crisis: a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, a crippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism.

On Thursday, the day of Mr Trump's tweet, the government reported the worst US economic contraction since the Great Depression: 32.9% in the second quarter.

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 20 January following a general election.

Multiple congressional Republicans – including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top House of Representatives Republican Kevin McCarthy – have rejected the idea.

Reuters contributed to this report