Donald Trump used a primetime televised address to accuse China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election, repeating unsubstantiated claims that critics fear are a prelude to challenging the results of the upcoming midterm elections. The 25-minute speech, delivered from the White House on Thursday, saw the former president cast doubt on the integrity of the US electoral system, describing it as "catastrophically" short of fairness and trust.
Trump announced the "immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence" which he said revealed "shocking vulnerabilities" in election infrastructure. However, his assertions contradict the findings of officials from his own administration, including John Ratcliffe, his former director of national intelligence, who concluded that the 2020 election was the most secure in US history. Trump dismissed such assessments as a cover-up by the "deep state".
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, responded by saying that the president's claims had been "investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the intelligence community, the FBI, DHS, DOJ, bipartisan state election officials, audits, recounts, and the courts." Warner added that China, Russia and Iran all seek to advance their interests, but that these threats should be confronted "with facts, not distort them for political purposes".
Trump also directed the office of national intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the CIA to investigate how information had been hidden, and to fire those involved in the alleged cover-up. His remarks come after he installed ally Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, despite Pulte having no prior intelligence experience. Pulte is believed to have provided documents intended to validate Trump's claims.
John Solomon, a right-wing former journalist hired as a White House special adviser, acknowledged outside the White House that the released documents contained no evidence that foreign actors changed a single vote in 2020. Trump used the speech to renew his call for the passage of the Save America Act, which would require strict voter identification, though the legislation remains stalled.
