Following the events of the 2020 general elections, the US intelligence community has revealed, in a landmark report, that the Russian government attempted to meddle in the polls through misinformation targeted at President Joe Biden.
According to the report released on Tuesday, the Russian government meddled in the 2020 election with an influence campaign “denigrating” President Joe Biden and “supporting” former President Donald Trump. Detailing a massive disinformation push that successfully targeted, and was openly embraced, by Trump’s allies; the report answers questions that had been lingering long before the November 4th vote.
The report further showed that Russia’s objectives were not limited to hurting Biden’s candidacy and aiding Trump’s reelection bid, as US intelligence found that Moscow also sought to undermine “public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbate sociopolitical divisions in the US.”
Iran Worked Against Trump
As for Iran, the report said Tehran “carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s reelection prospects — though without directly promoting his rival.”
Both Russia and Iran also used their influence operations in an attempt to sow existing divisions in U.S. society and to undermine confidence in the democratic process. In addition, the report warned a range of other foreign actors, including Lebanese Hezbollah, Cuba and Venezuela took steps to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
China In The Clear
Contrary to early speculations and direct accusations made by former president, Donald Trump, the report ruled out China’s involvement in the elections, revealing that the Asian giant did not care much for the outcome of the polls.
We assess 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,” the newly released ODNI report said, adding it had “high confidence” in its finding.
“China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling, and assessed its traditional influence tools — primarily targeted economic measures and lobbying — would be sufficient to meet its goal of shaping U.S. China policy regardless of the winner,” the report stated.
President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US polls in 2020 beating out his predecessor and controversial Republican Party candidate, Donald Trump.
