Trump makes unverified claims of ‘sinister election meddling’ in primetime address

Opponents warn president's speech is smokescreen for him to meddle in upcoming congressional midterms

Donald Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election in a primetime televised address that laid bare his continuing obsession with his defeat to Joe Biden but which opponents warned was a smokescreen for him to meddle in the forthcoming congressional midterms.

In a 25-minute speech on Thursday that had been hyped by Trump himself, the US president cast extraordinary doubts on the integrity of the US electoral process, saying it was catastrophically" short of standards of fairness and trust, while vulnerable to trespassing by foreign powers.