Trump is rehashing old claims the 2020 election was stolen. His real aim: sowing doubt in the midterms

In a prime-time address on Friday, President Trump revived claims that the twenty-twenty election was stolen, citing newly declassified documents as evidence. According to The Conversation, those documents don't actually support his allegations of widespread fraud. Courts, audits and recounts—including those run by Republicans—have already rejected these claims, and his own former attorney-general found no fraud significant enough to have changed the outcome. The declassified intelligence assessments found no evidence that foreign governments interfered with voting systems; what they did show is that China collected voter data, but collecting data is not the same as changing votes. Critics say, per The Conversation, that Trump is setting the stage to delegitimize the November midterm elections so he can contest the results if they don't go his way. He's removed members of the Election Assistance Commission—which certifies voting machines—and is pushing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register. When Kansas implemented a similar requirement, it blocked about thirty-one thousand eligible voters—twelve percent of applicants—from registering; federal courts struck it down. Electoral research suggests such barriers would disproportionately affect young, rural, and low-income voters.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton