Speech to the Nation: a man clinging to power while his country burns

 

from Kenneth Smith Jr

This is happening right now. Trump just announced a “Speech to the Nation” Thursday at 9 PM. According to CNBC and Reuters, the speech will claim declassified intelligence reveals foreign nations interfered in the 2020 election. He’s also reportedly planning to declare Georgia Senators Ossoff and Warnock were “illegitimately elected.” A sitting president trying to undo an election from six years ago. Let me explain why this matters. 

A president cannot declare sitting senators illegitimate. The Constitution says only the Senate can expel a member by two thirds vote. Trump lost 64 court cases challenging the 2020 election. His own first term DOJ found no evidence of widespread fraud. Ballot audits found nothing. Every legal avenue was exhausted and failed. Six years later, he’s not trying again through the courts. He’s trying through a primetime TV speech. Because the courts already told him no. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith testified under oath that his team developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election.” His 130 page report concluded the evidence was “sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.” The only reason Trump wasn’t convicted is DOJ policy says you can’t prosecute a sitting president. He wasn’t cleared. He was shielded. And now he’s accusing everyone else of the crime he committed. 

 

And what did Trump do with that evidence? He buried it. Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, permanently blocked Volume 2 of Smith’s report from ever being released. Trump’s co-defendants tried to have all copies destroyed. Smith wanted to testify publicly. Republicans forced him behind closed doors. The man claiming the 2020 election was stolen is hiding the evidence that proves he’s the one who tried to steal it. And Thursday he’s going on national TV to blame everyone else.

 

And let’s talk about who’s making this accusation. A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed in a 966 page report that Russia launched an “aggressive effort” to interfere in the 2016 election to benefit Trump. His campaign chairman had regular contact with a Russian intelligence officer. His associates were “eager to exploit the Kremlin’s aid.” This wasn’t Democrats. It was a Republican led committee. And now he’s accusing others of foreign election interference.

 

This is also a man convicted on 34 felony counts for fraud. A man whose own special counsel had proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he tried to overturn an election. A man who buried the evidence and had a judge he appointed block it permanently. And now he’s going on national TV to accuse others of fraud and foreign interference. With Trump, every accusation is a confession. Every single time. And Thursday will be no different.

 

He’ll be joined by CIA Director Ratcliffe, FBI Director Patel, acting DNI Pulte, and DHS Secretary Mullin. The people who are supposed to protect national security are being lined up as props for a speech to delegitimize a democratic election. The entire intelligence apparatus is being used to sell a lie that 64 courts rejected. That’s not intelligence. That’s propaganda with a security clearance

 

Voting machines are not connected to the internet. A foreign government cannot hack systems that aren’t online. This has been verified repeatedly. Reuters reported “no evidence has been found of foreign intrusions that changed results of past elections.” The intelligence community’s own 2020 assessment found China considered interference but decided against it. This speech is not based on new evidence. It’s old lies with a new coat of pai

 

Here’s the part that exposes the real motive. The same 2020 Georgia election that Trump is calling fraudulent also elected Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. If the election was rigged for Democrats, how did Republicans win statewide on the same ballots? The answer is obvious. The election wasn’t rigged. Trump lost Georgia. And he has never been able to accept it. This isn’t about fraud. This is about ego and retaliation.

 

The timing tells you everything. Senator Ossoff is up for reelection this November. Trump is down in the polls. His party is at risk of losing the Senate. Instead of winning voters with better ideas, he’s delegitimizing the opposition. Even conservative commentator Erick Erickson called it “an in-kind contribution to Ossoff’s campaign.” Trump looks desperate. Because he is. The midterms are coming and he knows what the numbers say. 

 

Senator Ossoff responded directly: “Donald Trump’s spiral continues. The failed president, pocketing billions as he drives up prices, is afraid to lose the midterms. So he will reheat debunked election conspiracy theories and tell bizarre new lies to deny his 2020 defeat and attack voting rights.” That’s a sitting senator calling the President’s upcoming speech exactly what it is: a desperate move by a man who is afraid of losing power through the democratic proces

 

This is the same president who said “we will not lose for 100 years” if they pass the SAVE Act. The same president with 228 executive orders bypassing Congress. The same president trying to repeal the 17th Amendment so you can’t elect your own senators. The same administration that carved up Memphis in 8 days to erase Black representation. Every move makes your vote matter less. Thursday’s speech is the next step. He can’t win fair. So he’s making fair impossibl

 

Don’t let Thursday distract you from what’s actually happening. Troops are rationing food. Inflation tripled. The Epstein files are being covered up. Healthcare costs $19,000 a year with insurance. The national debt is exploding. And instead of addressing any of it, the President is using primetime television to relitigate an election he lost six years ago. That’s not leadership. That’s a man clinging to power while the country burns.