Donald Trump’s attacks on the U.S. elections are “disturbingly identical” to Russia’s, as CNN’s Brianna Keilar put it, and she showed us the video receipts to prove it.
Keilar read from two Department of Homeland Security memos that describe Russia’s tactics. Then, she played clips of Trump sounding like he could have been carrying out Putin’s marching orders:
Trump and Russia undermine electoral process:
TRUMP: The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.
It’ll end up being a rigged election or they'll never come out with an outcome.
I think it's going to be the greatest fraud ever. I think it's going to be a rigged election.
Trump and Russia attack vote-by-mail:
TRUMP: This universal mail-in is a very dangerous thing. It's fraught with fraud and every other thing that can happen.
Ballots are lost. There's fraud, there’s theft.
Mail-in voting is going to rig the election.
Trump and Russia fear monger that ineligible voters will receive mail-in ballots:
TRUMP: You get thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody’s living room, signing ballots all over the place.
In California, the governor sent, I hear, or is sending millions of ballots all over the state, millions to anybody. To anybody. People that aren't citizens, illegals, anybody that walks in California is going to get a ballot.
Trump and Russia accuse state officials of using the pandemic as an excuse for mail-in voting (in order to rig outcomes):
TRUMP: So now, all of a sudden, New Jersey is gonna be hit with millions of ballots to be sent out. They didn’t know anything about this. And if you look at some of the things they say, like, in, take the state of Nevada, take that little scam that's going on over there with the clubhouse politician governor.
I'll tell you who's meddling in our elections. The Democrats are meddling by wanting and insisting on sending mail-in ballots.
Trump and Russia sow distrust by accusing other countries of interfering in U.S. elections:
TRUMP: Mail-in ballots, you're going to have foreign countries. You talk about foreign countries - they're going to be printing their own ballots.
By the way, you guys like to talk about Russia and China and other places. They'll be able to forge ballots. They'll forge ‘em, they’ll do whatever they have to do.
Keilar paused to point out that senior U.S. intelligence officials tasked with protecting the 2020 election recently said there’s no evidence that foreign countries are interfering with the mail-in process.
Trump and Russia attack Joe Biden’s mental and physical competence:
TRUMP: The man can't speak and he's going to be your president?
I say he's not competent to be president. You have to be sharp and tough and so many other things. He doesn't even come out of his basement.
Guy doesn't know he's alive. He's going to be out in ten days.
Trump and Russia accuse Democrats of rigging the presidential primary process:
TRUMP: I think Bernie is looking more and more like he'll be the nominee. Unless they cheat him out of it.
I think it’s rigged against Bernie but maybe he'll pull it through. It was rigged against me four years ago and I pulled it through. I think it’s rigged against Bernie.
Mayor Pete, he quit out last night. And then I hear -- then I hear a senator from a state we're going to win. We're going to win that state but she dropped out. Sounds like they made a deal.
But wait, there’s more. Keilar noted that two cabinet members have downplayed Russian interference in order to point fingers at China. First, we saw Attorney General and Trump loyalist Bill Barr claiming he’s “seen the intelligence” showing that China is interfering with the election more than Russia. Yet Barr refused to say what China is doing. Then we saw Secretary of State and Trump loyalist Mike Pompeo saying, “The greatest threat to the United States of America from a foreign power emanates from the Chinese Communist Party. It’s not, frankly, a close call.”
Keilar called BS.
Actually, it seems a whole lot worse than “delinquent and political.”
