President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that Americans would have to learn Chinese if he loses the 2020 election, highlighting a U.S. intelligence report saying the communist country wants former Vice President Joe Biden to win the November election.
Trump made the comments during a radio appearance on conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt’s show. Trump has turned his criticism of China into a major pillar of his reelection effort in recent weeks, blaming the regime for allowing coronavirus to build into a pandemic.
“If I don’t win the election, China will own the United States,” Trump said. “You’re going to have to learn to speak Chinese.”
President @realDonaldTrump tells @hughhewitt that if he loses the election to Joe Biden, “China will own the United States. You’re going to have to learn to speak Chinese.” pic.twitter.com/F5clUQyhIv
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 11, 2020
Trump’s statement comes days after the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) announced that both China and Russia were attempting to interfere in the 2020 election, and respectively for the opposing parties. China, the report said, would prefer a Biden presidency, while Russia would prefer Trump stay.
“We assess that China prefers that President Trump – whom Beijing sees as unpredictable – does not win reelection,” the statement said. “China has been expanding its influence efforts ahead of November 2020 to shape the policy environment in the United States, pressure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interests, and deflect and counter criticism of China.”
The DNI had a similar statement regarding Russia’s efforts. (RELATED: As Pence Campaigns In Pennsylvania For The Third Time In Two Months, Another Poll Shows Trump Down In The State)
“We assess that Russia is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former Vice President Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment,'” Evanina wrote. “This is consistent with Moscow’s public criticism of him when he was Vice President for his role in the Obama Administration’s policies on Ukraine and its support for the anti-Putin opposition inside Russia.”