Dems Dismiss Chinese Election Interference
Beijing prefers Joe Biden, but Nancy Pelosi says Russia is still the real threat.
“The Chinese, they said, prefer Biden. We don’t know that, but that’s what they’re saying,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “But,” she then explained, “they’re not really getting involved in the presidential election.” Worse, she says, “Russia is actively 24/7 interfering in our election. They did so in 2016, and they are doing so now.” The two, she insists, are “not equivalent.”
Well that’s convenient for Democrats, especially given that it ignores the budding China/Russia alliance.
As has been well established by so many investigations and reports that we’ve lost count, Russia did interfere in the 2016 election by sowing division and distrust. But Vladimir Putin hoped to destabilize President Hillary Clinton by supporting the certain loser, Donald Trump. Voters did not cooperate, of course, but Democrats mendaciously exploited the narrative for political gain, winning the House in 2018 and using their victory to put the nation through the Ukraine impeachment fiasco earlier this year.
That is to say the only success Moscow’s propagandists truly had was in giving Democrats political fodder for four long years. Talk about collusion…
Beijing’s propagandists have their own agenda. Indeed, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement confirming as much. “We assess that China prefers that President Trump — whom Beijing sees as unpredictable — does not win reelection,” said the report. “China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and deflect and counter criticism of China.”
But “they’re not really getting involved in the presidential election.”
Why does China think Biden would be preferable? Because Trump has actually been tough on our primary geopolitical foe. The DNI report continues:
Although China will continue to weigh the risks and benefits of aggressive action, its public rhetoric over the past few months has grown increasingly critical of the current Administration’s COVID-19 response, closure of China’s Houston Consulate, and actions on other issues. For example, it has harshly criticized the Administration’s statements and actions on Hong Kong, TikTok, the legal status of the South China Sea, and China’s efforts to dominate the 5G market. Beijing recognizes that all of these efforts might affect the presidential race.
In his 1796 Farewell Address, George Washington warned, “Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence … the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.” No one should take lightly efforts by sinister foreign tyrannies to manipulate American elections. But neither should anyone believe that Democrats will truly further American interests and Liberty.
Update 8/12: Asked about the issue, President Trump asserted in his typical fashion, “If I don’t win the election, China will own the United States. You’re going to have to learn to speak Chinese.”