It’s easy to see what appears to be the aim of the speech. Leaders in autocracies like Hungary and Venezuela spread doubt about elections they feared losing, then cited that doubt to reject the results. Our midterm elections are coming up in November. The doubt is being sown now.
Last night Donald Trump gave a presidential address claiming China stole voter data on 220 million Americans and that hundreds of thousands of noncitizens sit on state voter rolls. This morning Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania claiming more than 256,000 noncitizens are registered. He gave election officials two weeks to respond, threatened their funding, and offered the possibility of prosecution.
Most of the claims in the speech have already been adjudicated. More than 60 courts examined the 2020 election. Recounts and audits confirmed it. Agencies led by Trump’s own appointees called it secure. His own intelligence community concluded that China deployed no interference efforts. Even the lone dissenting analyst on that report found no evidence China touched election processes.
The letters themselves describe their own findings as preliminary. DHS matched voter rolls using Social Security numbers. Mullin made no claim that anyone on his list ever cast a ballot.
It’s easy to see what appears to be the aim of the speech. Leaders in autocracies like Hungary and Venezuela spread doubt about elections they feared losing, then cited that doubt to reject the results. Our midterm elections are coming up in November. The doubt is being sown now.
Notes To My Future Self 