Commentary: Why is Trump rehashing 2020 election rigging claims?

U.S. President Donald Trump is once again alleging that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that voting machines are untrustworthy, claims that experts suggest are aimed at preemptively delegitimizing the upcoming Congressional midterm elections. Trump recently used a prime-time address to reiterate these allegations, stating that declassified intelligence documents purportedly back his claims of foreign interference, Chinese access to voter data, and a cover-up by "rogue bureaucrats." He also repeated accusations of illegal ballots being manufactured for Joe Biden and non-citizens being registered to vote. However, these claims lack substantiation. More than 60 court cases challenging the 2020 election results were dismissed, and audits and recounts in key states, including those conducted by Republicans, confirmed the election outcomes. Furthermore, Trump's own former Attorney General, Bill Barr, concluded that there was no fraud on a scale sufficient to alter the election's result. His cybersecurity agency also described the 2020 election as the "most secure" in U.S. history. The declassified documents released by the White House alongside Trump's speech do not appear to support his assertions. Official reports from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security found no evidence of foreign government interference that changed votes or blocked voting in 2020 or 2022. A 2021 intelligence assessment similarly found no indication that foreign actors tampered with the U.S. election process, including registration, voting, counting, or reporting. Even a dissenting analyst cited by Trump acknowledged that China did not interfere with U.S. election systems, and this minority view was published alongside the majority analysis, contradicting claims of a cover-up.

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US President Donald Trump has used a rare nationwide prime-time address to again claim the 2020 presidential election was stolen, US voting machines cannot be trusted, and a “deep state” conspiracy has covered it all up.