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Key events
Donald Trump repeated calls in his Thursday speech for the passage of the Save America Act – a rebranded and expanded version of last year’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save) act, which passed in the US House but didn’t get a vote in the Senate.
This year’s version includes a very strict voter ID requirement for casting a ballot and a provision that requires states to regularly turn their voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security, in addition to criminal liability for election officials who register a voter without proper documentary proof of citizenship.
Last month, US federal court blocked an attempt by Trump to bypass Congress on the Save Act via executive order. This week, House Republicans reupped their efforts to resurrect the bill by linking the measure to an unrelated spending bill and passing both largely along party lines.
After Thursday’s speech, Republicans voiced their support of the Save Act, with representatives like Tim Burchett of Tennessee urging Americans to call their senators.
“We are going to lose our country if we don’t pass the dadgum Save America Act,” Burchett posted on X. “Call your senator and tell them to save our great nation.”
Democrats began denouncing the Save Act even before Trump took to the podium, with Kamala Harris, the former vice-president and the defeated Democratic candidate in the ۲۰۲۴ presidential election, leading the charge.
“Here is what you need to know: The ۲۰۲۰ election was not stolen; we won and he lost,” she wrote on social media. “The Save Act is voter suppression. It is part of a larger agenda of conservatives trying to steal power from the people.”
The denounciations continued after his speech.
“Tonight, Donald Trump reminded us again just how desperate he is to steal the midterm elections. The so-called Save America Act isn’t about stopping fraud, it’s about stopping voters,” JB Pritzker, governor of Illinois, posted on X.
“After listening to the president’s rambling address, I want him to know that the Save America Act is going NOWHERE in the Senate,” Patty Murray, a Democatric senator from Washington state, posted on X. “It belongs in the trash with the rest of Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories. America, use your vote and your voice to save our democracy.”
Read more about the Save Act here:
China, Democrats decry Trump’s latest unverified claims of election interference
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump used a ۲۵-minute primetime televised address on Thursday to make unverified claims about China interfering with the ۲۰۲۰ presidential election and cast extraordinary doubts on the integrity of the US electoral process.
However, the heavily redacted documents released by the White House, purportedly to support the president’s allegations, appeared to undercut the idea that China intended to interfere in the ۲۰۲۰ election – claims which had already been investigated by intelligence officials, who concluded with high confidence in ۲۰۲۱ that China “did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election”.
On Friday, China’s foreign ministry said the accusations were “pure fabrication” and amounted to “a malicious smear campaign”, Reuters reports.
Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a briefing that Beijing has no interest in interfering with US elections and has never done so. “We urge the US to take a long, hard look at itself and stop making unfounded accusations against China,” the spokesperson said.
Democrats were also quick to decry Trump’s messaging, with Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia and vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, saying that the president’s speech “was just lies and long-debunked conspiracies”.
“This is all just a prelude to interfere in our midterms — don’t fall for it,” Warner posted on X.
“If Trump wins, it’s a fair election. If he loses, there was fraud. Does he realize the election he’s talking about happened under his watch as President? The only reason Trump is bringing this up now is to distract from the fact he’s failed to make Americans’ lives better,” Mark Kelly, a Democratic senator from Arizona, posted on X.
More to come.
