Meadows denies reports that postal sorting machines were decommissioned

White House chief of staff Mark MeadowsMark Randall MeadowsSunday shows preview: Mail-in voting, USPS funding dominates political debate before conventions Chris Wallace rips both parties for coronavirus package impasse: ‘Pox on both their houses’ The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Trump goes birther again; no deal on COVID-19 package MORE on Sunday denied reports that several U.S. Postal Service (USPS) letter sorting machines were decommissioned after orders from the postmaster general.

Meadows told CNN’s “State of the Union” that reports about hundreds of postal service sorting machines being taken out of service are a “political narrative” and “not based on fact.”

NBC News reported on Friday that an internal document showed that Postmaster General Louis DeJoyLouis DeJoyTaylor Swift: Trump’s ‘calculated dismantling’ of USPS proves he’s trying to ‘blatantly cheat’ election DC protesters stage ‘wake-up call’ outside home of postmaster general Senate Democrat calls for end of recess amid warning about mail-in ballot delays MORE is decommissioning 671 of USPS’s letter sorting machines across the U.S. 

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“There’s no sorting machines that are going offline between now and the election,” Meadows said. “That’s something that my Democrat friends are trying to do to stoke fear out there. That’s not happening.”

Meadows also called on House Democrats to return to D.C. to negotiate Postal Service funding along with enhanced unemployment benefits, stimulus checks and small-business reform, adding that the president will “sign that.”

CNN’s Jake TapperJacob (Jake) Paul TapperJuan Williams: Keep the spotlight on Trump’s COVID failure Chicago mayor: We can’t let federal officials ‘play police’ in our city Coronavirus testing czar: Nobody on task force ‘afraid to bring up anything’ to Trump MORE pushed back on the chief of staff, saying, “Are you saying that sorting machines have not been taken offline and removed?”

“I’m saying that sorting machines between now and the election will not be taken offline,” Meadows replied, prompting Tapper to ask about the “ones that have been taken offline in the last couple of months.”

“Why were these sorting machines taken offline?” Tapper asked.

Meadows answered, “Get your producer to share where exactly those sorting machines were taken offline. Let them whisper in your ear because what I’m telling you is you’re picking up on a narrative that’s not based on facts.”

“A sorting machine to handle 100 million ballots, it’s like a gnat on an elephant’s back,” Meadows added. “It’s not going to matter with 8.6 billion pieces of mail going through the Postal Service every year.”

“There’s no sorting machines that are going offline between now and the election,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tells @jaketapper while discussing the debate surrounding Postal Service funding. https://t.co/M79UyNK2rI #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/QpgneVGwsx

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 16, 2020

Later in the interview, Tapper noted that a union president told CNN that the Postal Service this year shut down four machines in Kansas City, Mo., two machines in Springfield, Mo. and one machine in Wichita, Kan.

Meadows asserted that all sorting machines not part of an “already scheduled reallocation” will stay in place and that the decommissioning is not “a new initiative by this postmaster general.”

Mail-in ballots have emerged as a key area of contention ahead of the November election, with President TrumpDonald John TrumpPresident Trump’s brother, Robert Trump, dies at 71 Trump to take part in each day at GOP convention: reports Trump breaks with CDC director on potential for ‘worst fall’ amid pandemic, flu season MORE and his allies asserting they would lead to widespread fraud. Experts, however, say those claims are not warranted.

This report was updated at 10:33 a.m.