President Donald Trump’s repeated complaints that the presidential election is rigged dovetails perfectly with Russia’s strategy for creating chaos and voter confusion in the U.S., a former top intelligence official warned Sunday.
“That message that you can’t trust our system, that you can’t trust the vote, that you can’t trust the other party — that you can’t trust — is exactly what the Russians, particularly, hope to achieve,” said Sue Gordon, former deputy director of national intelligence.
“Their aim would be to sow the divisions and to get Americans to say, ‘You know what? It’s not worth it. I can’t trust it. We’re not going to vote,‘” Gordon noted on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Trump has a particular responsibility to instill trust in the election, Gordon said.
“I’m going to always hold the president more responsible than anybody else because he’s, well, the president, and his voice carries further, speaks louder,” Gordon said.
Despite Trump’s repeated cries of election fraud and U.S. intelligence showing that Russia, China, Iran and other foreign interests are working to influence the 2020 vote, Gordon declared that the nation’s election infrastructure is “as well protected as it’s ever been.”
Gordon said she believes that the “most significant strategic threat to America is if we end up not believing in ourselves — and I’ve shared this with the president.”
Check out the clip up top.
