President Donald Trump, in a primetime address on Thursday, announced he has declassified a slew of documents he claims reveal vulnerabilities in America's elections systems, election fraud and interference in elections by China, and ordered the Department of Justice to prosecute those believed to be involved.
"America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed because no country can be great without fair and honest elections, you have to trust your country," Trump said. "Because if there can be no trust, there can be no greatness, and that's very simple: no trust, no greatness."
But throughout the more than 20-minute speech, the president did not provide specific evidence that the election outcome, or any votes, were altered in the 2020 election, despite his repeated claims that the election was "stolen" or "rigged."
Trump has long pushed debunked conspiracy theories to claim that his 2020 election loss was fraudulent.
The President's speech led to his main argument: he wants Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, his sweeping elections reform bill that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said does not have enough Republican votes to pass.
Some Democrats offered a preemptive rebuttal ahead of Trump's address. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York said, "Trump's speech...has nothing to do with the 2020 elections. It has everything to do with the 2026 elections. He's scared to death that he will lose in 2026."
