Fact-checking Trump's repeated election fraud claims in primetime address

[0:00] In a primetime address to the nation, President Trump criticized alleged vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system, [0:06] but he didn't provide actual evidence of vote tampering. [0:10] For years, the president and his allies have falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged. [0:15] Well, last night, the president claimed the Chinese government collected voter data, [0:19] exaggerated claims about dead and non-citizen voters, [0:22] and asserted that voting machines are easily compromised, even though there's a lack of evidence to support that. [0:28] The White House released a trove of newly declassified documents in conjunction with this address. [0:34] This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes, [0:43] like levels never thought possible, to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference, [0:51] just as disturbingly this vital information has for many years been covered up and hidden from you. [0:58] However, much of the information in the documents has been known for years, [1:04] and a White House official acknowledged none of it alleges votes were switched or that voting machines were hacked. [1:10] Democrats slammed the address and accused Mr. Trump of seeking to undermine elections. [1:16] Democratic Senator Mark Warner spoke with CBS News right after the president's speech. [1:20] I've never seen comments like this from a president and I say it doesn't matter what party, that's nothing to do with party. [1:28] That is so less connected to truth than this. [1:32] And if we don't step up and you guys as journalists and people across the political aisle stand up and say [1:38] our election integrity is too important to mess around with, then shame on all of us. [1:43] Now we've got team coverage on this for you this morning. [1:46] Jared Hill is here in studio to fact check the president's speech. [1:49] Anna Karen is standing by in London with China's reaction to the president's allegations. [1:54] But first, let's begin with CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro in our D.C. bureau. [1:59] Aaron, good morning. [2:00] So President Trump didn't necessarily provide any groundbreaking or new info on elections. [2:05] So what was the point of this speech and how are Democrats reacting? [2:10] Good morning, Errol. [2:10] Well, while a lot of the speech was relitigating his obsession with the 2020 election, the forward-looking part of why he made the speech is at least twofold. [2:19] One, it continues his push for Congress to pass the Save America Act. [2:23] That's an election bill he's been pushing that would require proof of citizenship and a photo ID in order to vote. [2:28] And he's been trying to pass that before the midterms this year. [2:31] And he ended his speech last night with that message to Congress. [2:35] Take a listen. [2:37] But most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security, [2:41] demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act. [2:48] How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat? [2:53] Now, that bill wouldn't address much of the concerns in terms of foreign actors in our elections [2:58] that the president laid out from these findings. [3:01] But beyond further preventing non-citizens from voting, that's a number that may have been exaggerated. [3:07] That's one thing that that Save America Act could address. [3:10] Another part of why he made this speech is to potentially set up any future actions, [3:14] at least in the White House's justification, to try and control the 2026 elections, [3:19] have more federal oversight on what is usually a state-run process. [3:23] He said the administration would be working with states to secure voter data [3:27] and address known, quote, technical vulnerabilities for this year's elections, which are just months away. [3:33] Now, there was that kind of expertise for these elections at a federal level created with CISA, [3:39] the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. [3:42] But that agency has been severely defunded during the president's second term. [3:46] Now, Democrats heavily criticized the point of this whole speech. [3:50] California Governor Gavin Newsom said it was a, quote, 25th Amendment moment, [3:55] reference to the amendment that sets out the line of succession when the president is unable to do their job. [3:59] And in the statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the Save America Act is going nowhere [4:06] and that it's been rejected already by the courts and Republicans in Congress. [4:11] He added that, quote, Democrats will fight like hell to make sure every American voter can cast their ballot freely [4:16] without obstruction or interference from Donald Trump. [4:20] All right, Aaron Navarro with the why behind this speech and some of the top line reaction. [4:24] Aaron, thank you. [4:25] Let's speak with CBS News' Jared Hill now. [4:27] He's in studio. [4:28] And for those of you who missed the speech, we've got a quick fact check with Jared. [4:31] Jared, good morning. [4:32] What jumped out to you from what the president said? [4:34] Yeah, Aaron, we got a lot to get to. [4:36] Let's start at the top, though. [4:37] One of the big things is that there was no new evidence of vote tampering. [4:41] President Trump repeated several claims that American elections are not secure. [4:45] He also alleged China acquired hundreds of millions of U.S. voter files to interfere with the election. [4:53] The documents cover five major areas of concern. [4:56] First, they show that over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, [5:04] the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history. [5:12] CBS News finds that claim misleading. [5:16] It's still not clear how China accessed voter data or what they did with it if they did. [5:22] We do know that all states make at least some voting information publicly available. [5:27] A 2020 bulletin from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says, quote, [5:33] while cyber actors have in recent years obtained voter registration information, [5:38] the acquisition of this data did not impact the voting process or election results. [5:44] It went on to say that there is no information suggesting a cyber attack on our election infrastructure [5:49] compromised the integrity of any votes. [5:52] President Trump also repeated claims that America's election systems are vulnerable, again, offering no new evidence. [5:59] Here's what he said. [6:01] Every American deserves to know that when they cast their vote, that vote will be counted accurately in a system, [6:08] and that is to make that system secure. [6:11] One where cheating and interference are not just difficult, but virtually impossible. [6:19] Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard. [6:25] All right, CBS News find that claim to be false. [6:28] Federal officials have repeatedly addressed this, saying that the U.S. election system remains secure. [6:33] CISA, the Cybersecurity Agency, says that there was no evidence of malicious activity in the 2024 election, [6:41] and the agency says the 2020 vote was, quote, the most secure in American history. [6:46] Both Georgia and Pennsylvania confirmed that the 2024 election results after conducting their own audits of the vote. [6:54] The president also continued his tirade against mail-in ballots. [6:58] Trump has long tried to discredit voting by mail. [7:02] Here's what he said last night. [7:03] Mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt, so you would have no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military deployment, or travel. [7:18] If you're going away on business or vacation, these reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities [7:25] that I've mentioned. [7:28] All right, CBS also finds this claim to be false. [7:31] Multiple studies have shown that there is no evidence of widespread mail-in ballot fraud. [7:35] The Brookings Institute also found that only four cases of fraud out of every 10 million mail votes [7:42] across several elections, and the president himself voted by mail as recently as this year [7:47] during Florida's special election. [7:49] Now, he said he couldn't be there to vote, but Trump was golfing in Palm Beach during the early voting period. [7:55] You can see a full breakdown of President Trump's claims with all the context in our ratings [8:00] on cbsnews.com, as well as at the Free Press News app. [8:05] Back to you, Errol. [8:06] Crucial there, the CBS News app. [8:08] Jared, thank you very much. [8:10] Let's jump now to CBS News foreign correspondent Anna Corrin. [8:12] She's in our London newsroom. [8:14] Anna, good morning to you. [8:16] So what reaction are we seeing from China based on the president's claims? [8:20] Errol, China has responded forcefully to President Trump's allegations that Beijing interfered [8:25] in the 2020 elections. [8:28] In a MOFA briefing a few hours ago in Beijing, the spokesman described these claims as pure [8:34] fabrication and malicious smears, which have long been proven as baseless. [8:39] Now, during Trump's primetime address, he stated that Beijing had carried out, quote, [8:45] the largest compromise of election data in history, illicitly collecting 220 million voter files [8:52] over a period of years. [8:53] Now, as Jared said, we don't know where the president got that number from. [8:57] And we also should point out to our viewers that U.S. intelligence found no evidence of Chinese [9:02] meddling in the 2020 election. [9:05] It has been known for years that China has tried to collect voter data, which is readily [9:10] available on the Internet. [9:12] The data would reveal insights about American voters, but not allow for votes to be manipulated. [9:19] China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said, quote, [9:24] the U.S. allegations have no factual ground and are aimed at defaming China. [9:30] He went on to say, we urge the U.S. to engage in some self-reflection, [9:33] cease its groundless smear campaign against China, refrain from using China as a political [9:39] football in the election, and do more to foster China-U.S. relations. [9:44] Now, Errol, this comes two months since President Trump's state visit to Beijing, which, you know, [9:50] was really seen as a reset in trying to improve relations between the two superpowers. [9:57] But these latest accusations by Trump could certainly complicate this fragile truce and potentially [10:02] affect the upcoming visit by China's President Xi Jinping to Washington. [10:06] That is expected to take place in September, Errol. [10:09] Very interesting. [10:11] All right, Anna Karen in London for us. [10:12] Anna, thank you.