US President Donald Trump has made a series of sweeping allegations in a primetime TV address, claiming that China and a "deep state" are involved in a cover-up over his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden. The president claimed that there were "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure" and that China and other countries have been trying to meddle in US elections.
In his 25-minute speech, Trump stated that he had declassified intelligence that revealed "sinister" meddling by China and claimed that "members of the deep state" had worked to "actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China's sinister election meddling." However, critics have accused Trump of trying to sow confusion and spread misinformation in the run-up to November's mid-term elections.
A previous intelligence assessment found no evidence that foreign interference had impacted the outcome of the 2020 presidential race, which Trump lost to Biden. Trump has long claimed that the election was stolen from him, despite dozens of court cases finding no proof of widespread fraud.
Trump also claimed that major television networks ABC, NBC, and CNN were involved in a "plot" and should lose their licenses for not broadcasting his address on their main channels. He stated that every American deserves to know that their vote will be counted accurately and that the current system is "catastrophically short" of meeting that standard.
The president used his speech to push for Congress to approve the stalled Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or Save America Act. This legislation would require photo ID to vote and proof of US citizenship to register, while forcing states to share voter registration information with the federal government. However, some on Capitol Hill say there is no way to implement the bill in time for the midterms.
Democrat senator Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, branded Trump's claims about China as "totally bogus." Warner stated that the fact is that intelligence agencies unanimously agreed that China did not even try to change a single vote in the 2020 election.
