Trump revives election fraud claims ahead of US midterms

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump has revived sweeping and unsupported claims of voter fraud and Chinese meddling, firing a clear warning shot ahead of midterm elections that many expect him to dispute.

In a primetime White House address on July 16, Trump portrayed the U.S. electoral system as dangerously exposed and urged lawmakers to adopt new restrictions on voting, despite scant appetite for the measures even within his own Republican Party.

“We can never watch a stolen election again,” Trump said, referring to his 2020 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump said he was declassifying intelligence that showed, among other things, that China had illicitly acquired 220 million U.S. voter files.

“Over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history,” he said from the White House.

Beijing denied Trump’s claims and urged the Washington “to do more to benefit China-U.S. relations.”

“The relevant claims made by the U.S. side are pure fabrications and malicious smears that have long since been proven to be groundless statements,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a news conference on July 17.

Trump also claimed that more than 250,000 non-U.S. citizens were registered to vote in four states.

He then attacked U.S. broadcasters that refused to interrupt programming to carry his speech live, naming ABC and NBC, and baselessly implying they were involved in election-rigging attempts.

“They and others in the media are part of a plot,” Trump said. “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.”

Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” has never been substantiated. More than 60 lawsuits produced no ruling establishing fraud capable of changing the outcome, while recounts, audits and his own Justice Department found none.