1.      There is still no evidence of wide-spread election fraud

If every new claim President Trump made during his rambling speech were found to be credible, they still do not prove that the 2020 election or any election was “stolen” or altered in anyway by widespread voter fraud. Certainly, if proven true, the claims would warrant a close look at election security and processes, but Americans can still be confident that the winners are actually the winners.

As many media outlets and experts have stated since the speech, voter rolls are public information and the fact that China may have them or any other country for that matter, is not news or necessarily an imminent threat. It is also not evidence of voter fraud.

The claim that 250,000 non-citizens are registered to vote is also not proof of widespread fraud. First, while knowingly registering as a non-citizen is illegal, registering alone does not change the outcome of an election. The Administration has not said if these registered non-citizens voted. That is because most of them are likely U.S. citizens after all. The citizenship database created by the Department of Homeland Security was found by a federal judge to have incorrectly flagged U.S. citizens as noncitizens in a large number of cases.

2.      China as the scapegoat is dubious this close to the midterms

If you have paid much attention to the Republican primaries in your state, you have probably heard or seen political communication bashing China and stoking fear about the motives of “Communist China.” In Tennessee, gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn spent millions in her 2024 senate race and now the governor’s race calling out Chinese influence. Her latest ad featuring her crushing fortune cookies (which aren’t Chinese) has gained national attention and criticism for its racist overtones. Blackburn and others have promised to stop the Chinese government from buying up Tennessee farmland, but China does not own any farmland in Tennessee, and it is against the law.

A Pew Research poll found that 82% of Republicans view China negatively. People 50 and older, the most likely voters, are much more likely to view China as an “enemy,” rather than a “competitor.”

There is no doubting that massive spying and hacking is ongoing at the behest of the Chinese government. However, there is far more evidence that in the past the Russian government has been more active at attempting to influence the outcome of a U.S. presidential election. Yet, anti-Russian rhetoric does not motivate Republican voters the way that anti-Chinese rhetoric apparently does. It is not surprising that Trump’s laser focus was on China, instead of multiple foreign nations like Russia, Iran, and North Korea who have or are attempting to influence our elections.

 3.      Speech had all the markings of an autocratic leader

The President sounded like a would-be dictator. It is not news that some fear the President may attempt to declare a “national emergency” and use the military to control the outcome of the midterm elections. That concern is not allayed by the President’s refusal to say in a Wednesday interview that he would accept the outcome of the midterm elections.

In his remarks, Trump harkened back to the role of the “Deep State” in allegedly withholding intelligence information from him. At one point, he said “If there is no trust, there is no greatness.” The tactic of sowing distrust in governmental institutions and that he is the victim of their subterfuge fuels narrative that only he can right the ship.

The subject of the speech itself and continued calls for federal laws and policies like the SAVE Act signal a desire for more federal control of elections, rather than simply providing assistance to the states, which have constitutional authority to administer elections.

Trump lashed out at ABC and NBC, who refused to air his address, as being a part of a “plot to protect the radical left.” Then he said their FEC licenses should be revoked.

To recap: Evil forces are at play inside the government and working against the American people. The media are in on it and working for radical leftists. Those same entities are allowing a foreign actor to gain control of our elections.

Sound like a rationale for an autocratic ruler?