Donald Trump airs 2020 US election fraud claims again, blames China for ‘meddling’
Updated ,first published
Washington: In an extraordinary prime-time television speech ahead of November’s midterm elections, US President Donald Trump made a series of sensational claims of wholesale fraud in American elections, including that China interfered in the 2020 presidential poll and stole the data of 220 million voters.
Trump claimed that the elections in his country were “worse than any Third World country” and could not continue like this, and warned that the country was at risk of “again a stolen election”. This was in reference to false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and rigged against him.
Simultaneously, the Trump administration declassified and released dozens of files that it said proved Trump’s claims about the fragilities of the US election. This imprint has not yet examined the trove of documents.
But on CNN He said he reviewed all the documentsreported that they largely discussed the vulnerabilities that have been known for years and are currently reflected in the 2021 intelligence community assessment. According to CNN, the declassified documents do not support the conclusion that previous election results, including 2020, were manipulated.
In his speech, Trump claimed that the People’s Republic of China illegally obtained the personal data of 220 million American voters over several years, starting in 2020, “in what is believed to be the largest election data disclosure in history.”
The data included names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences and other sensitive data, he said, “presenting an unprecedented election security nightmare.” He said China had specifically assigned a data handling unit to the project.
Additionally, Trump claimed that Beijing was engaged in activities aimed at undermining his first term and influencing the results of the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential election.
That includes efforts to use China’s connections at major U.S. companies to persuade corporate leaders to turn against Trump or to pay American journalists to write negative articles about him, he said. He didn’t give any examples.
“They fought like crazy to make sure Donald Trump didn’t win,” Trump said. “The reason they wanted me to lose was because they knew I was wise to them.”
The president accused China of trying to influence the election to change public opinion, but did not publicly accuse China of interfering; this is often used to compromise the voting process or to refer to the counting of votes.
In addition, Trump claimed that “deep state members,” typically used for spies and members of the intelligence community, were actively working to suppress and downplay the extent of “China’s interference in the election.”
Many US media outlets received a statement from the Chinese embassy in Washington ahead of Trump’s speech.
“From the beginning, China has adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of others,” the statement said. “The US election is an internal matter of the US. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never intervened in the US presidential elections and will never interfere.”
In one of the most sensational moments of the speech, Trump claimed that his administration had recently found a significant number of “burnt bags” containing documents containing information provided by former president Barack Obama. Trump claimed that the bags should have been burned, but this did not happen.
He did not provide evidence for those allegations, but said he had directed the director of national intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the CIA to investigate the matter, remove those responsible and, if appropriate, pursue criminal charges against them.
Trump also repeated earlier debunked claims that electronic voting machines used in the United States could be hacked and interfered with by American adversaries. He said documents declassified by his administration would prove it.
He also claimed that there were at least 278,000 noncitizens or dead people on U.S. voter rolls nationwide. Trump claimed the real number was higher, but some Democratic-run states did not share voter registration lists.
A new White House portal on election integrity reveals that FBI Director Kash Patel has been tasked with investigating “alleged fraud stemming from a large-scale voter registration operation in Michigan” related to a Democratic vote-get-get-out organization in Michigan.
Trump used his prime-time address to ask Republicans in Congress to pass a bill called the SAVE Act, which would require voters to provide documentary evidence of their citizenship when they register to vote and show photo ID at the ballot box. Currently regulations vary from state to state.
Passing legislation before the midterm elections has now become Trump’s sole domestic priority, and he recently refused to sign a major housing affordability bill in protest of Republicans’ failure to pass the SAVE Act.
“China and other countries are trying to meddle in our elections,” Trump said in his speech Thursday night (Washington time). “Evidence of fraud has been eliminated. Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead individuals remain listed and active on voter rolls.
“Yet we still have elections with no voter identification, no proof of citizenship, and tens of millions of ballots floating aimlessly through the mail.”
Trump had made his speech by telegram days before, and it was known that he would raise new allegations about the integrity of the election and interference. Some major television networks, such as NBC and ABC, did not broadcast the speech live, leading Trump to say their broadcast licenses should be revoked.
CNN also declined to broadcast the speech live, instead airing portions and providing analysis. Murdoch-owned Fox News broadcast the full address, but a reporter later noted: “Fox News has not yet seen the evidence and is not in a position to evaluate the veracity of the president’s statements and allegations.”
Trump’s decision to once again condemn the legitimacy of the 2020 election drew criticism, including from Republicans, in the hours before his speech.
“We can’t restart this campaign,” Thom Tillis, a Republican senator from North Carolina, said Thursday. “When you look back, you’re not looking forward. I’m looking at this election, and so should the president.”
The US intelligence community, under leaders appointed by Trump during his first term, concluded in early 2021 that no foreign actors attempted to interfere with the 2020 election.
“We have no indication that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 U.S. elections, including voter registration, voting, vote tabulation, or reporting of results,” an assessment released by the National Intelligence Council said.
Trump gave the speech in the East Room of the White House; There was an audience of about 50 people there, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, several other cabinet officials, Patel, and Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte. They were showered with applause at the end of Trump’s statements.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s televised speech was a pathetic attempt to deny that he lost the 2020 election. He said Trump has lost the support of American families because of the rising cost of living and the war against Iran.
“Instead of changing his policies, he’s trying to rig the midterms before a single vote has even been cast. We won’t let him,” Schumer said. “Democrats will fight like hell to ensure that every American voter can vote freely without obstruction or interference from Donald Trump.”
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
