Donald Trump has delivered a primetime address from the White House accusing China of interfering in the 2020 election and alleging “shocking vulnerabilities” in US voting systems – prompting fears he is laying the groundwork to reject the result of November’s midterms.
In a half-hour speech three months before the elections that will decide control of Congress, the president said he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files that he claimed showed Beijing had tried to sway the 2020 race in Joe Biden’s favour. Trump accused China of the “illicit acquisition” of 220 million voter files, including personal information, and said data in 18 states was “bought, stolen or hacked by China”.
“Trump accused China of stealing 220 million voter files in a primetime address, despite no evidence.”
But 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 said it had “high confidence” that China did not deploy interference efforts. Trump did not present evidence that the data was used to alter voting systems or change outcomes, and much voter data is publicly available.
China’s foreign ministry strongly denied the allegations, calling them “entirely fabricated” and “malicious smears” that had “long been proven to be groundless”, said spokesman Lin Jian.
Democrats accused Trump of attempting to sow doubts about the security of the upcoming elections. “Let’s be clear – in America, voters choose their leaders, not the other way around,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted on social media after the speech. “Democrats will fight like hell to make sure every American voter can cast their ballot freely, without obstruction or interference from Donald Trump.”
Trump also railed against the “deep state”, claiming intelligence agencies covered up China’s alleged interference. But he was given the assessment from those agencies on 7 January 2021 that no foreign country tried to change vote totals or fake ballots in the 2020 election, and there is no record of him objecting at the time. Many fear he will use the unsubstantiated claims as a pretext to overturn, ignore or delegitimise the November result, especially as Republicans are expected to lose badly.