Major U.S. television networks refused to broadcast a live address by President Donald Trump after he claimed that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.
During the address at the White House on July 16 (local time), President Trump claimed, "China has illegally obtained 220 million pieces of voter information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, over several years starting from the 2020 U.S. election period."
President Trump alleged that the so-called deep state, a term referring to powerful figures who control politics, business, and the media, covered up these facts and that U.S. intelligence agencies failed to report China's attempts at interference.
He stated that the White House Government Transparency Task Force and the President's Intelligence Advisory Board had collected the data and that he had personally reviewed the investigation results. He added that he would release the previously classified documents through the White House website.
As President Trump insisted on claims of election fraud, major U.S. broadcasters refused to air the speech live.
ABC and NBC maintained their scheduled programming, such as quiz shows and animal programs, only providing partial coverage of the speech. CNN also continued with its regular programming.
Fox News was effectively the only major network to broadcast the speech from start to finish. During the address, President Trump targeted the networks that refused to air it live, pressuring them by saying, "Their broadcast licenses should be revoked."
Major media outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, criticized the speech as merely repeating previously known claims and conspiracy theories.
They pointed out that the voter information allegedly obtained by China is closer to publicly available records and that no evidence has been found to support claims of manipulated voting results or election fraud.
NBC reported that U.S. intelligence agencies assessed with high confidence in a 2021 report that "China considered operations to influence the 2020 election but did not execute them," noting that the claims drew bewildered reactions from both Democrats and Republicans.
Some interpret this as President Trump, whose approval rating has fallen to the 30% range ahead of the November midterm elections due to the prolonged war with Iran, reviving the election fraud narrative to build momentum for passing the Save America Act, which would ban practices like mail-in voting that are considered favorable to the Democratic Party.
Reported by Kim Jin-u | Video by Ryu Ji-soo | Design by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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