President Donald Trump cited remarks made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to support his claims of vote fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
What Happened: In a recent interview with Fox News following his Friday summit meeting with Putin, Trump said that Putin had claimed that the 2020 election was "rigged."
The interview occurred subsequent to Trump’s recent rendezvous with Putin in Alaska, where the two leaders deliberated over a potential solution to Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Trump said Putin had stated, “Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.' He said, ';Mail-in voting every election. He said, ';No country has mail-in voting. It's impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.' And he said that to me. It was very interesting because we talked about 2020. He said, ';You won that election by so much,' and that's how he got it. He said, ';If you would've won, we wouldn't have had a war.”
Trump leveraged this comment to fortify his persistent, albeit unsubstantiated, assertions about the 2020 election being manipulated against him.
Also Read: Trump–Putin Alaska Summit Ends Without Ukraine Ceasefire Deal As US President Says ‘We’ve Made Some Headway’
Despite Russia’s track record of manipulated elections under Putin’s leadership, Trump described Putin as “a smart guy” and continued to claim that when it comes to mail-in voting, "Some people get seven ballots."
Why It Matters: Trump’s use of Putin’s words to substantiate his unfounded claims of election fraud is noteworthy.
This move comes amidst ongoing debates about the legitimacy of mail-in voting, a system that was heavily relied upon during the 2020 election due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s allegations, despite lacking concrete evidence, continue to fuel these debates and sow doubt about the integrity of the U.S. electoral system.
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