Donald Trump, leader of a country at war and facing rising living costs, addressed the nation Thursday night to speak about the elections… from six years ago. It was not merely an attempt to settle scores over a personal defeat; the president of the United States, whose unpopularity has reached record levels, spoke with his eyes fixed on the vote that will take place in just under four months. These are the midterm elections, and polls predict a Democratic victory. In the best-case scenario for Trump, he is trying to prevent that outcome; in the worst case, he appears unwilling even to acknowledge that it is likely.
The Republican thus revived one of his oldest and most recurring obsessions: the false claim that his opponent at the time, Joe Biden, stole the 2020 election from him, despite Biden winning by a margin of seven million votes. Trump did so during prime time (9:00 p.m. Washington time) and in a format traditionally reserved by presidents for the most solemn occasions: addressing the nation from a position of authority during the gravest crises, or highlighting the most momentous moments in a shared history.
On Thursday, that solemnity served as a platform to raise the specter of foreign interference in the 2020 election and to exaggerate its effects. In a speech lasting just under 30 minutes, delivered in a somber tone while reading from a teleprompter only hours after firing one of its operators for allegedly using insider information to profit from betting on...
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump resurrected long-debunked claims about fraud and foreign interference in the 2020 election, alleging in an address Thursday that China stole millions of voter...