WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump used a rare prime-time address Thursday night to renew his attacks on the security of U.S. elections, telling Americans that the nation\u2019s voting system is \u201cso broken\u201d that \u201cno one can possibly defend it,\u201d an unprecedented effort by a sitting president to undermine public confidence in domestic elections.<\/p>\n
Many of the claims he made, which echo those he made after he lost the 2020 election, have been debunked by investigations, audits and court proceedings. Trump did not claim that vote counts were changed or election systems were hacked, and his warnings that the nation\u2019s elections could be vulnerable to foreign influence have long been made by members of both parties.<\/p>\n
But the president amplified those claims and others in an effort to cast fresh doubt over what he said was a \u201cstolen\u201d and \u201crigged\u201d election and renew calls to pass a federal voting law ahead of the November election.<\/p>\n
\u201cAddressing this crisis of elections security demands that Congress will pass the SAVE America Act,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHow easy is that to do? Unless you want to cheat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said he directed the White House to release a tranche of heavily redacted documents that purport to show \u201cvulnerabilities\u201d in the nation\u2019s voting system, with the goal of \u201ccorrecting them very, very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n