Intelligence officials reveal primary threat to U.S. 2024 elections: report
July 29, 2024
The United States will once again have to combat Russian election interference in the form of propaganda supporting Donald Trump’s presidential run, according to a report from NBC.
An unnamed source described as an intelligence official told NBC that the Kremlin will likely proliferate a pro-Trump propaganda campaign in an attempt to sway the election away from the Democratic nominee..
Previous Russian interference in 2016 and 2020 was found by U.S. intelligence to have been authorized by Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month before Joe Biden dropped out of the race U.S. intelligence stated that “Russia remained the primary foreign threat to U.S. elections and that its candidate preferences were the same as in 2020,” according to NBC.
Read also: Alarms raised over missing classified Russian intel file last seen with Trump: report
While Biden has been swapped out for Harris, the intelligence official told NBC Russia's motivations remain largely unchanged.
“We view changes to influence themes are more likely than changes to larger strategies or preferences,” the official told NBC, later adding that, “Russia’s core interest in this election is opposing candidates who want to offer further aid to Kyiv, and we expect Russia’s focus will remain on that.”
As opposed to Harris, Trump has not committed to providing aid to Ukraine if elected and his running mate J.D. Vance said during a 2022 podcast, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”