US election: China wants Trump to lose as Russia discredits Biden
According to the United States Intelligence Services, the two global powers are taking sides as Donald Trump and Joe Biden go head-to-head this November.
As the presidential election in the United States edges ever closer, a report has emerged that global powers China and Russia are in position to interfere with proceedings to ensure that their pick of Donald Trump or Joe Biden seals the White House position.
China want to remove 'unpredictable' Trump
The US Intelligence Services have revealed that China are looking to help the Democratic nominee Biden into the Oval Office, as tensions between Washington and Beijing have intensified during the first term of the Trump administration. One of the many areas of conflict has seen the current American president continue to blame China for the coronavirus pandemic, calling it the ‘China Flu’ and suggesting that it was created in a Wuhan laboratory, something that has not gone down well.
This report has informed Congress that China will seek to interfere in the November elections to replace the man they see as as an ‘unpredictable’ president.
Russia wants to discredit Joe Biden
With their own interests in mind, Russia is also mentioned in the intelligence report, and they are backing the other horse in the race. Vladimir Putin’s government is strongly believed to have played its part in the 2016 election that handed Trump a shock victory and their plan this time around is to discredit his opponent to give them the same result.
"Ahead of the 2020 US elections, foreign states will continue to use covert and overt influence measures in their attempts to sway US voters' preferences and perspectives, shift US policies, increase discord in the United States, and undermine the American people's confidence in our democratic process," said William Evanina, who leads the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.
Evanina also said that tactics that could be used, as well as the spread of disinformation and propaganda, include attempts at compromising equipment used in the election. This could be either to alter the result in their favor or to give a false impression that the results have been tampered with.
Another player in this is Iran, according to Evanina, who states that the Islamic Republic aims to spread disinformation to divide the country and hurt the chances of Trump to remain in power.
How the Republicans and Democrats have responded
Both sides of the election in the US are speaking confidently about their chances of winning and point to their candidates merits overcoming any outside influences.
Tony Blinken is one of the Biden campaign’s senior advisors and he has talked about how the Democrat “has led the fight against foreign interference for years, and has refused to accept any foreign materials intended to help him in this election,” adding that this is “something that Donald Trump and his campaign have repeatedly failed to do.”
A spokesman for Trump’s reelection campaign, Tim Murtaugh, had a different take.
”We don't need or want foreign interference, and President Trump will beat Joe Biden fair and square."