Here’s Why Trump Posted About Iran ‘Stealing’ the 2020 Election Hours After the US Attacked

At 2:30 am Eastern clip connected Saturday, President Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social relationship announcing that the US had joined Israel successful launching attacks connected Iran.

His adjacent post, conscionable 2 hours later, appeared to suggest that the attacks were, astatine slightest successful part, motivated by a chaotic assertion that Iran had helped rig the 2020 US elections. “Iran tried to interfere successful 2020, 2024 elections to halt Trump, and present faces renewed warfare with United States,” the president wrote connected Truth Social.

The station linked to an nonfiction connected Just the News, a conspiracy-filled, pro-Trump outlet that offered nary mentation for its assertion beyond the vague assertion that Iran operated “a blase predetermination power effort” successful 2020.

The White House did not respond to a petition for remark connected whether the alleged interference factored into the determination to onslaught Iran oregon what precisely the alleged interference amounted to.

Trump has spent the years since 2020 boosting galore baseless conspiracy theories astir the 2020 predetermination being rigged. Since his instrumentality to the White House past year, helium has empowered his medication to usage those debunked conspiracy theories to pass decisionmaking, from predetermination bureau raids successful Fulton County, Georgia, to lawsuits implicit unredacted elector rolls.

It’s not precisely wide what expected Iranian interference Trump was alluding to successful his Truth Social post, but Patrick Byrne, a salient conspiracy theorist who urged Trump to prehend voting machines successful the aftermath of the 2020 election, claims to WIRED that it is related to a broader conspiracy mentation that besides involves Venezuela and China.

Like astir election-related conspiracy theories, this 1 is convoluted and based connected nary factual evidence. In wide terms, the conspiracy theory, which archetypal emerged successful the weeks and months aft the 2020 predetermination and has grown much analyzable successful the years since, claims that the Venezuelan authorities has been rigging elections crossed the globe for decades by creating the voting bundle institution Smartmatic arsenic a conveyance to remotely rig elections. (Smartmatic has repeatedly denied each allegations against it and successfully sued right-wing outlet Newsmax for promoting conspiracy theories and defaming the company.)

Byrne laid retired the full conspiracy mentation successful a 45-minute-long presumption posted to X successful 2024. His claims person been wide shared wrong the election-denial assemblage since it was posted.

Iran’s relation successful each of this, claims Byrne, was to fell the wealth trail. “They enactment arsenic paymasters. They support definite payments that would uncover this [operation] retired of the banking system, retired of the Swift strategy truthful you can’t spot it,” claimed Byrne during this presumption “It’s done done a transportation pricing mechanics tally done Iran successful oil.”

When asked for grounds of Iran’s relation successful this conspiracy theory, Byrne did not respond. In fact, nary of Byrne’s claims person ever been verified, and astir person been repeatedly debunked. Smartmatic did not instantly respond to a petition to comment.

There person been 2 existent documented instances of Iranian predetermination interference, however: In 2021, the Justice Department charged 2 Iranians for conducting an power cognition designed to people and endanger US voters. And successful 2024, the 3 Iranian hackers moving for the authorities were charged with compromising the Trump run arsenic portion of an effort to disrupt the 2024 election.

Byrne’s allegations, however, person been wholly different. And portion Byrne’s claims person been circulating online conspiracy groups for years, they person been emailed straight to Trump successful caller months by Peter Ticktin, a lawyer who has known Trump since they attended the New York Military Academy together. Ticktin besides represents erstwhile Colorado predetermination authoritative turned predetermination denial superstar Tina Peters.