US President Donald Trump in his Thursday primetime speech portrayed the US electoral system as being under siege by foreign actors and illegal migrants who continue to manipulate its many vulnerabilities, besmirching the integrity of American elections, reports Axios.
During the 25-minute speech from the East Room of the White House, Trump primarily focused on two objectives, namely building support for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and revisiting his longstanding claims about the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
Focusing on allegations involving China and the American “Deep State”, Trump, citing newly released “raw” intelligence claimed that Beijing had carried out “the largest compromise of election data in history” during the 2020 election by obtaining 220 million US voter files and creating “ballots for Biden”.
However, voter registration lists containing names and addresses are publicly available in most US states, and access to such information does not itself indicate interference in election outcomes.
Trump also accused the US “Deep State” of withholding documents detailing Beijing’s activities from him during his first term. However, many of those documents, which the White House posted online during the speech, were much more caution in their assessment of China’s role than Trump claimed. “Raw” intelligence isn’t the same as vetted intelligence, according to intelligence officials.
Trump’s remarks also contrasted an Intelligence Community Assessment that reportedly found “no indications” of any foreign interference that altered “any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results.”
He further alleged that around 278,000 unauthorised immigrants were registered to vote across several key battleground states and said that an ongoing Department of Homeland Security review of voter rolls would reveal a far higher national figure, though he did not present evidence that any of those individuals had actually cast ballots.
Independent reviews of the 2020 elections have repeatedly failed in gathering evidence of any widespread voting by undocumented immigrants.
The president also highlighted what he described as “shocking vulnerabilities” in election systems, particularly cybersecurity risks and warned about increasing threats to the American election infrastructure, though he did not cite any evidence showing any cyber intrusion altering election outcomes.
His comments came despite significant reductions to agencies involved in election security during his administration, including cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which helps state and local authorities protect voting systems, and the effective dismantling of much of the Election Assistance Commission’s work.
Trump also urged states and local governments to cooperate with federal authorities in removing ineligible voters from registration rolls and while GOP members and supporters argue that such measures are necessary to safeguard election integrity, Democrats and critics claim that such measures would purge the rolls in Republicans’ favour.
The speech also highlighted the continuing role election issues play in Trump’s political messaging as the country approaches the mid-term November elections and looks ahead to 2028.
Some Republican strategists believe concerns about voter fraud help motivate the party’s base, but others argue the issue resonates less with swing voters.
One GOP pollster involved in multiple campaigns said focus group testing showed many undecided voters reacted negatively when presented with Trump’s claims about the 2020 election.
“Even swing voters who think something wasn’t good about the election, when they listen to Trump, just have an eye roll,” the pollster said.
