Trump claims Afghan elections ‘better run, more secure’ than US polls

Outgoing US President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that a “young military man” said elections in Afghanistan were “far more secure and much better run” than the US presidential election of 2020.

This despite Taliban suicide bombings killing scores of innocent people during a 2019 Afghan presidential election that devolved into a monthslong political battle between candidates who both claimed victory, Task and Purpose reported. 

Trump tweeted Saturday: “A young military man working in Afghanistan told me that elections in Afghanistan are far more secure and much better run than the USA’s 2020 Election.”

Trump wrote on Twitter: “Ours, with its millions and millions of corrupt Mail-In Ballots, was the election of a third world country. Fake President!”

Task and Purpose questioned the White House on this and asked what military branch the purported “young military man” served in or provide details of when and where the conversation occurred – but the White House failed to respond. 

This comes as Trump continues to blame widespread voter fraud in the US presidential elections for his loss to president-elect Joe Biden. 

So far nearly 60 lawsuits citing voter fraud and brought by Trump have been rejected by judges. 

On December 1, Attorney General William Barr said “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” 

In response to Trump’s claims, US media has pointed out that the September 29, 2019, presidential elections in Afghanistan were certainly not safe for those voting and that over two million people cast their ballots amid Taliban threats of violence and attacks. 

Trump’s comment about “better run” also came under question and media reports stated that Afghanistan initially failed to meet its deadline of having preliminary election results by October 19. 

Four months later, Afghanistan’s election commission declared President Ashraf Ghani the winner but campaign rival Abdullah Abdullah disputed the result. 

Both sides claimed fraud and only in May this year did Ghani and Abdullah agree to a power-sharing agreement. 

At one point both candidates even took the oath of office as president of Afghanistan.