Foreign Adversaries Are Using Trump’s Voter Fraud Claims To Undermine Democracy, Intelligence Chief Says
Topline
U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, a Trump loyalist, said Friday that foreign adversaries are amplifying allegations of voter fraud to undermine public trust in American democracy, adding to fears that President Donald Trump and his allies’ post-election efforts challenging President-elect Joe Biden’s win will corrode trust in the democratic process even if they don’t change the election results.
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe arrives for a briefing in the U.S. Capitol on … [+]
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Key Facts
When asked in an interview with CBS’ This Morning whether “foreign adversaries are amplifying the voter fraud allegations” being spread without evidence by Trump and other Republicans, Ratcliffe said “they are,” but would not say which countries are doing so.
Adversaries are amplifying the voter fraud claims with the objective “to undermine public confidence in our democratic processes,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe said the intelligence community has so far not seen any evidence suggesting foreign actors have successfully changed any votes, despite conspiracy theories spread by Trump allies including former legal advisor Sidney Powell.
Ratcliffe’s comments follow a warning from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before the election that Russian actors were trying to “amplify criticisms of vote-by-mail” to sow distrust, using rhetoric that echoed Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting.
Crucial Quote
“Our adversaries benefit from a weakening of American democracy, and surely cheer Donald Trump’s effort to undermine its central institution: free and fair elections,” Stephen Biddle, professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, told CNBC Nov. 6. “Pointing to an allegedly chaotic, fraud-ridden U.S. election thus offers them an opportunity to diminish enthusiasm in their own populations for U.S.-style government and democracy and to diminish the threat that this system poses to them…The more chaos here, the better for them there.”
Key Background
Trump and his allies have repeatedly pushed unfounded allegations of voter fraud and improprieties in the vote counting process in the wake of Biden’s win, despite no concrete evidence of any widespread voter fraud. While the president’s efforts have had no substantial impact on the election results, with every battleground state certifying their results and the Trump campaign repeatedly losing its court challenges, election experts say the president’s attacks on the election are dangerous because of the long-term threat they pose to confidence in the American democratic process. Polling has shown that a broad number of Republicans are buying into Trump’s misinformation, despite election officials from both parties making clear the election was secure and a lack of evidence proving the president’s claims. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Nov. 13 to 17 found only 16% of Republicans believed the election was “legitimate and accurate,” while an Economist/YouGov poll found 88% of Trump voters do not believe Biden legitimately won the election. “Seventy million people voted for [Trump]. He’s telling 70 million people he was cheated out of the presidency,” University of Southern California law professor Franita Tolson told The Guardian. “That can’t help but be corrosive to democracy.”
Further Reading
52% Of Republicans Think Trump ‘Rightfully Won’ Election, Poll Finds (Forbes)
Poll: 88% Of Trump Supporters Appear To Falsely Believe Biden Didn’t Legitimately Win (Forbes)
Russia Pushing Mail-In Voting Conspiracies, Government Report Claims (Forbes)
‘Corrosive to democracy’: what do Trump’s baseless claims really mean? (The Guardian)
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