Trump Alleges Chinese Meddling in 2020 US Election Without Evidence
US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address on Thursday accusing China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election and alleging “shocking vulnerabilities” in American voting systems. The speech, given from the White House three months before the midterm elections, repeated unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and foreign meddling in the election he lost to Joe Biden.
Trump stated he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files that he said support his claims that Beijing attempted to sway the election in Biden’s favour. However, the US intelligence community has previously concluded that China did not interfere in the 2020 election. A 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council expressed “high confidence” that China did not deploy interference efforts and did not attempt to change the outcome.
In response, China’s foreign ministry strongly denied the allegations, calling them “entirely fabricated” and “malicious smears” that have “long been proven to be groundless,” according to spokesman Lin Jian.
During his half-hour address, Trump accused China of the “illicit acquisition” of 220 million voter files, claiming voter data in 18 states was “bought, stolen or hacked by China.” He did not present evidence that the information was used to alter voting systems or influence election outcomes. The White House released hundreds of pages of intelligence documents, many heavily redacted, which are being reviewed by media outlets.
Democrats accused Trump of attempting to sow doubt about the security of the upcoming November midterms, which will decide control of Congress. “Let’s be clear – in America, voters choose their leaders, not the other way around,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media. “Democrats will fight like hell to make sure every American voter can cast their ballot freely, without obstruction or interference from Donald Trump.”
The president’s comments contradict previous US intelligence assessments. The 2021 National Intelligence Council report stated that China “did not deploy interference efforts” and considered but did not deploy influence efforts to change the election outcome, likely because it did not view either result as advantageous enough to risk blowback.
Trump delivered the address after a Washington Post-Ipsos poll showed his approval rating had dropped to 37%, with many voters pessimistic about the cost of living and the ongoing war with Iran.
Elsewhere in the speech, Trump alleged that US voting machines are “extremely exposed” to interference by foreign adversaries, including Russia, China and Iran. Shortcomings in US election infrastructure have been documented, and some were addressed after the 2016 election, when the US intelligence community found that Russia engaged in a concerted meddling campaign.
Trump also alleged that a state investigation in Michigan discovered a voter registration fraud scheme by a Democratic-affiliated group but was constrained by the FBI from acting before the statute of limitations expired. He provided no evidence for this claim.
