President Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House, announcing the release of a trove of declassified intelligence and alleging election interference, despite evidence that there was no such issue in the 2020 election.
The President’s speech reignited a fierce debate over election security. The White House launched a new website to coincide with the speech.
Trump saying there is evidence that electronic voting and ballot-counting systems are vulnerable, that China compromised election data beginning in 2020, and that nearly 300,000 non-citizens are listed on voter rolls.
The president opened by boasting about the economy and national security, but that script changed quickly as he dove into each of these what he calls issues.
“Tonight, we are publishing a series of previously classified U.S. intelligence community assessments and other reports proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack,” Trump said during the address.
“As one assessment states we judge that the United States adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure.”
Trump also called out Michigan who he says is at the center of alleged fraud by a large-scale voter registration operation.
The president ultimately said that election integrity is falling short. He is pushing Congress to pass the Save Act, which requires proof of citizenship when voting.
“For many years, Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems, dishonest, almost all,” Trump said. “They’re vulnerable and easily compromised and people within our government knew that.”
It is important to note that previous investigations refuted Trump’s claims of election fraud.
While the White House continually highlights security gaps, Democrats braced for Thursday’s remarks, dismissing the sudden election focus as a stunt to stoke pre-election division.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took to social media saying in part, “Remind the President that state Democrats defended the 2020 election in court 43 times and won every case.”
In recent months, clerical human errors in the Lehigh Valley have been emphasized by critics. But officials say those issues were quickly caught, proving current safeguards work.
Mail-in ballot error did not prevent eligible voters from casting ballots, Lehigh County election officials say
President Trump added that DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin will hold a briefing Friday with more on the findings.