President Donald Trump has walked back his startling suggestion that Election Day should be postponed amid searing criticism from both parties — now saying his idea wasn't about undermining the foundation of American democracy but simply ensuring results were ready in a timely fashion.

"Do I want to see a date change? No. But I don't want to see a crooked election," Trump said during a White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump, lagging in the polls and grappling with deepening economic and public health crises, on Thursday floated the startling idea of delaying the Nov. 3 presidential election. The notion drew immediate pushback from Democrats and Republicans alike in a nation that has held itself up as a beacon to the world for its history of peaceful transfer of power.

Trump suggested the delay as he pushed unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic would result in fraud. But shifting Election Day is virtually impossible and the very idea represented another bracing attempt by Trump to undermine confidence in the American political system.

The date of the presidential election — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year — is enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change.

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