US President Donald Trump has accused China of compromising the American election data. He said he would declassify intelligence on "shocking vulnerabilities" in the system, escalating his claims that the 2020 presidential election -- that Trump lost to Joe Biden -- was stolen from him. Trump claimed US midterm elections are "vulnerable to being rigged and stolen" unless radical changes are made to the voting system in ways that will make it much harder for voters to cast ballots.
"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, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files," the US leader said in a televised prime-time address from the White House.
He accused members of the deep state worked to cover China's data fraud. "This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare," he said.
Trump said America's election system "falls catastrophically short" of an accurate and fair system.
"Every American deserves to know that when they cast their vote, that vote will be counted accurately in a system, and that is to make that system secure -- one where cheating and interference are not just difficult, but virtually impossible," he said.
"Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard. Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure. This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes like levels never thought possible to hacking," Trump added.
Allegations of Beijing collecting US voter data are not new. A 2020 report by the National Intelligence Officer for Cyber, partially declassified in 2022, said Chinese intelligence officials analyzed voter registration data from multiple American states to conduct "public opinion analysis."
However, more than 60 lawsuits by Trump and his allies produced no ruling establishing fraud capable of changing the outcome of the 2020 election, while recounts, audits, and his own Justice Department found none.
Trump closed out his 24-minute speech by urging the passage of the SAVE Act. The bill, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, would require documentary proof of US citizenship for anyone registering to vote -- something voting rights groups have warned could disenfranchise millions of Americans.
Noncitizen voting is illegal under federal law and already rare.
The President also called for broadcasting licenses to be withdrawn from networks refusing to carry live his prime-time speech on election fraud, implying baselessly that they are involved in attempts to rig elections.
"They and others in the media are part of a plot. Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public multi-billion-dollar-in-value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing," he said, calling out ABC and NBC by name.
The Chinese Embassy in the US has reacted to Trump's allegations. Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang said, “China has all along adhered to the principle of non-interference in other's internal affairs. The US election is an internal matter of the U.S. Its outcome is determined by the votes of the American people. China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US."
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