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Trump’s Declassified Claims
In a primetime address from the White House in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said foreign countries — notably China — interfered in the 2020 election and argued that the "deep state" concealed damning information from him and "from you."
“Declassified documents touted by Trump say election systems 'would be difficult to manipulate' Audits and paper trails "would uncover such efforts," the documents said”
Trump claimed China carried out what he said was the "largest compromise of election data in history," resulting in China's "illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files," and he said the data included names, addresses, phone numbers and political party preferences.
PBS reported that Trump urged lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to provide government-issued photo IDs to vote and documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register.
ABC News said newly-declassified documents touted by Trump concluded that the main infrastructure used to conduct elections in the United States "would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to alter the election outcome."
China Denies, Democrats Push Back
China rejected Trump’s claims, with China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian saying, "The relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China," and adding, "We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so."
In response to Trump’s speech, Lin Jian told a daily briefing in Beijing, "we urge the U.S. to stop making an issue of China in its elections and do something conducive to China-U.S. relations."
Democrats accused Trump of trying to sow doubts about the upcoming November midterms, and BBC quoted top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posting, "Let's be clear - in America, voters choose their leaders, not the other way around," after the speech.
BBC also reported that the US intelligence community previously concluded China did not interfere in the 2020 election, citing a 2021 National Intelligence Council report that said it had "high confidence" China did not interfere in the 2020 presidential election.
Safeguards, Stakes for Midterms
PBS quoted Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, saying there are several safeguards in place to protect U.S. elections, including preelection testing of equipment and chain of custody rules for ballots.
“United States President Donald Trump has renewed a campaign to cast doubts on the 2020 elections that saw him lose to Joe Biden – this time painting China as a major adversary that helped “manipulate” the vote”
Smith told PBS that nearly every state has paper ballots that can be used to show evidence of voters' intent, and she said, "and that is the most important safeguard of all."
BBC reported that Trump’s address came three months before the midterm elections and that Democrats accused him of attempting to sow doubts about the security of the upcoming November midterms which will decide control of Congress for the remainder of his presidency.
In the same speech, Trump called for the passing of the SAVE America Act, which BBC said bans most mail voting, requires proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo ID to cast a ballot, and BBC said the legislation has been stalled in the Senate for months.
