President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime address Thursday evening, during which he is expected to detail information that he has recently received from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence related to the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Election Integrity
Trump has long pushed debunked conspiracy theories to claim that his 2020 election loss was fraudulent. It’s not immediately clear what allegations he will make as part of his speech.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was tight-lipped about what the president would say in her daily briefing besides that he will discuss “protecting the integrity of our elections.”
When asked by a reporter about concerns from some Republicans that the president was litigating past elections that could turn off some swing voters, Leavitt said that Trump would focus on secure elections as key to American democracy.
Leavitt emphasized the importance of honesty and integrity in reporting on the president’s speech, saying that the American people will be relieved to hear what the president has to say.
Prebuttal from Democrats
Democrats launched a prebuttal of the speech on Thursday, with Sen. John Ossoff calling it “a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election.”
Despite Trump’s claims of voter fraud that contributed to his 2020 election loss, officials have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Trump recently installed loyalist Bill Pulte, who has no previous national security experience, to lead DNI and has said that he wanted Pulte to declassify information and fire scores of experienced career staff.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.