China, Iran and Russia want to influence the US elections. This is what US intelligence concludes in a statement released Friday. William Evanina, director of the National Center for Counter-Intelligence and Security (NCSC) gave an update on the threat less than three months before the poll.
China, Iran in favor of Biden, Russia backs Trump
"We believe that China prefers that President Trump - considered unpredictable by Beijing - does not win a second term. China has stepped up its efforts to influence the political environment" ahead of the election, said William Evanina , as the standoff between Beijing and Washington grows harder every day. He draws a similar picture for Iran which "is trying to weaken American democratic institutions, President Trump and to divide the country ahead of the 2020 elections", especially via "an online influence campaign, which spreads fake news and anti-American content, ”he wrote.
Conversely, he wrote, "we believe that Russia uses several levers mainly to denigrate former Vice President Biden", who had defended the Russian opposition when he was a member of the administration of Barack Obama. “Kremlin-related actors are seeking to support President Trump's candidacy on social media and on Russian television,” he noted. According to the American intelligence services, Moscow had already campaigned for Donald Trump in 2016.
Trump tackles Biden
Asked about the issue on Friday evening, Donald Trump opposed the idea that only one of these countries actually wants his re-election. "Nobody of common sense" would think that Democrat Joe Biden could be even tougher in business than him, he said at a press conference. "China would love to see an election in which Donald Trump loses to the sleeping Joe. (...) Our country would belong to them," he added, this time going in the direction of the report.
The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee said making public the information released on Friday was "the best way to combat" foreign interference. But "we encourage the political leaders of the two parties not to use this information as a political weapon, because it would serve the interests of our adversaries", added the elected Republican Marco Rubio and his fellow Democrat Mark Warner.