WASHINGTON –president Donald Trump questioned the integrity of U.S. elections ahead of the midterms, repeating fale allegations about the 2020 wlwction and alleging, without evidence, that China interfered in the vote in a July 16 speech to the nation.
Trump, who has long baselessly stated that his 2020 election loss was rigged, introduced a trove of declassified documents in a push to cast doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections less than four months before the November midterm elections.
“Our purpose in disclosing this information is not to weaken confidence in elections, but to earn that confidence by confronting vulnerabilities and correcting them very, very quickly,” Trump said from the East Room of the White House.
Trump said the so-called “deep state” within the government during his first term concealed intelligence showing China’s interference during the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections. “They fought like hell not to have it ‒Donald Trump to win ‒ and for good reason,” Trump said, contradicting prior intelligence assessments that China did not try to interfere with the 2020 election.
In an extraordinary allegation, Trump said Americans have for years been “blatantly lied to” by the government about the security of election infrastructure including voting machines and ballot-counting systems. He said U.S. adversaries, including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure.
“They’re vulnerable and they’re easily compromised, and people within our government knew that,” Trump said, adding that “our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attacks.”
Trump also said the Department of Homeland Security has identified 278,000 noncitizens who are registered to vote in federal elections.
Trump used his long list of election allegations – which were not immediately verifiable – to urge Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act , which would overhaul voting in federal elections.
In the November midterms, Republicans face the possibility of losing control of at least one chamber of Congress due to Trump’s low poll ratings and the difficulty the party holding the White House has historically faced in midterm elections.
Since his 2024 reelection, Trump has worked to gain unprecedented federal control of elections through a series of moves, including firing key leaders of the federal Election Assistance Commission , a bipartisan panel that helps local election officials administer elections.
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