President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime address this week, focusing on elections and potentially revisiting long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he escalates calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm elections.

Election Integrity

Trump has been guarded about the details of his speech, scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday, but hinted that he would discuss a range of issues, including election security. The president has used the power of the primetime presidential address to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the economic climate on Democrats.

Trump’s preoccupation with voting fraud and election security dates back to at least 2016, when he refused to say whether he would accept defeat to Democrat Hillary Clinton. After winning the election, he convened a voting integrity commission to support his claims that widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote, though the commission disbanded without uncovering any evidence.

Repeated audits and reviews, many run by Republicans, including Trump’s own then-attorney general, have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020. Despite this, Trump has continued to push for tighter voting rules, demanding legislation that would require voter ID and sharply limit mail-in voting.

Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.