Trump Aligns With Fringe Theory Linking Venezuela to 2020 Vote

Former President Donald Trump recently appeared to lend credence to a widely debunked conspiracy theory asserting that Venezuela’s leadership wields control over global electronic voting software and orchestrated his defeat in the 2020 presidential election against Joe Biden.

For years, officials within Trump’s White House cited concerns over migration and the illicit drug trade as the primary drivers behind his administration’s increasingly aggressive stance toward Venezuela. However, a new comment made by the former president on his Truth Social platform suggests that his animosity toward the South American nation might also stem from an outlandish and implausible narrative, which a judge definitively ruled false in 2023.

The Discredited Narrative

The core of this theory posits that Venezuela possesses the capability to manipulate voting systems internationally, specifically targeting the 2020 U.S. election. Such claims have faced intense scrutiny and have been thoroughly discredited by legal proceedings and independent fact-checkers. Notably, in 2023, Fox News paid a substantial $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems to resolve a lawsuit partly predicated on identical allegations regarding Venezuela’s supposed involvement in the 2020 election outcome.

The White House did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment regarding Trump’s latest remarks. His social media post on Sunday followed a Guardian report published two days prior, detailing how Trump’s Department of Justice, during his tenure, extensively interviewed individuals promoting the notion that Venezuela controls voting technology companies and alters vote counts to favor specific candidates.

Key Figures and Ongoing Investigations

Among those interviewed by W. Stephen Muldrow, the U.S. attorney in Puerto Rico, were Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer, and Martin Rodil, a Venezuelan expatriate. Both men claim to possess evidence substantiating this elaborate scheme and have also briefed a specialized task force operating out of Tampa. Berntsen, alongside author Ralph Pezzullo, appeared as guests on far-right media personality Lara Logan’s podcast last Friday.

Trump’s Sunday post was a repost of this very podcast segment. Accompanying the segment, Trump wrote: “We must focus all of our energy and might on ELECTION FRAUD!!” While his message did not explicitly name Venezuela, the podcast segment itself was a comprehensive rehash of these allegations. It centered around a self-published book titled “Stolen Elections,” which meticulously recounts the discredited theory.

Broader Context of U.S.-Venezuela Relations

The former president’s comments emerge against a backdrop of persistent U.S. military presence in the region, with significant resources, including a navy aircraft carrier, having been deployed during his presidency. Furthermore, the current administration escalated pressure on Caracas just one day after Trump’s post. On Monday, it designated the Venezuelan-based group known as Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, underscoring the ongoing tensions between the two nations.

Trump’s apparent endorsement of this fringe theory injects a new dimension into the already complex relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela, potentially linking his past policy decisions and current rhetoric to a belief system widely rejected by courts and experts.

Source: The Guardian