(AFP) – US President Donald Trump said he would discuss “free and fair” voting in an address to the nation on Thursday, apparently doubling down on his false claims to have won the 2020 election. US media reported that his speech would address newly declassified intelligence reports that the White House claims reveal plans by foreign nations to interfere in the vote won six years ago by Joe Biden.
Asked whether his address would involve “election machines and integrity,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday: “It will concern that subject, and we’ll have a couple of other things to say also. But I’d rather save it.” “It’s really, really big news. Our country has to shape up,” he added. “What we’re going to be talking about Thursday is — it doesn’t get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country. We’ll be discussing other things too, but it’s going to be a very big announcement.”
Republican Trump, in office for the second time after previously serving as US president from 2017 to 2021, has long pushed false allegations that he won the 2020 election. Pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a bid to stop the certification of Democrat Biden’s victory. Obsessed with the defeat, Trump has in recent months stepped up unproven accusations of alleged attempts by Democrats to rig November’s crucial midterm elections.
The Democrats have fired back at Trump, saying he has been taking steps to seize control of the midterms via gerrymandering election districts, as well as last week’s sacking of the final two Democrats on a federal agency that oversees fair polls. Republicans fear they could lose their grip on the House of Representatives and possibly even the Senate, with Trump’s approval nearing record lows in opinion polls. The president could face a third impeachment trial if Democrats do seize control of the House. He was impeached twice in his first term — once over Ukraine and a second for alleged incitement of the January 6 riots.
Trump’s primetime address to the nation at 9:00 pm Thursday (0100 GMT Friday) also comes amid mounting hostilities with Iran, as a fragile ceasefire appears to have collapsed.
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