Updated July 22, 2026, 1:59 p.m. ET
- Sen. John Fetterman criticized former President Donald Trump for focusing on unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims.
- Trump recently accused China of interfering in the 2018 and 2020 elections during a primetime address.
- Fetterman asserted that the 2020 election in Pennsylvania was secure and that Trump’s claims are a distraction from current issues.
Following President Donald Trump’s remarks during a primetime address to the nation accusing China of election interference, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, lambasted the president for his focus on unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Here’s what Fetterman said as he rebuked Trump’s recent election fraud claims.
Pennsylvania Sen. Fetterman calls out Trump over recent 202 election fraud claims
Fetterman chided Trump for his continued insistence that extensive voter fraud swung the 2020 presidential election.
“I don’t know why the president is dragging up all of this stuff,” Fetterman said on CNN’s July 19 “State of the Union.” “You’re the president. Do something positive, and you are talking about 2020.”
Fetterman’s criticism comes after Trump flip-flopped on criticisms toward China, initially alleging that the country had interfered in the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential election, but later saying he believed China had changed.
Fetterman criticizes Trump for 2020 election fraud claims, says it’s a ‘distraction’
Fetterman further called out the president’s fixation on 2020 election fraud during his appearance on “State of the Union.”
“That’s been settled over six years ago,” Fetterman said. “It’s deeply unhelpful, and that distracts important things, especially like the Iranian war right now.”
During the discussion, Fetterman emphasized that Pennsylvania, where Fetterman was serving as lieutenant governor in 2020, elected former President Joe Biden and that the election was “absolutely secure, fair and accurate.”
“That was the voice of Pennsylvania, and they picked Joe Biden in 2020,” Fetterman said. “That’s a fact.”
Fetterman also said if he saw evidence that more than 250,000 migrants were registered to vote, “that would make me reconsider some of these things.”
“But there’s no evidence, and I don’t expect that we will see any of that,” Fetterman said. “And I also would remind people, in Pennsylvania, out of 67 counties, (the) vast, vast, vast majority of them are deep red counties, and they have never encountered any kinds of fraud.”
Trump repeatedly claims 2020 election fraud, recently blames China
For nearly six years, Trump has repeatedly claimed election fraud took place during the 2020 election when Biden won despite the Department of Justice finding no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Most recently, Trump called the election system “broken and so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it” during a primetime address to the nation on July 16. Referencing declassified intelligence documents, he also alleged that China had attempted to influence the results of the 2018 midterm elections and had tried to stop him from getting elected in 2020, when, he said, the country compromised voter data and stole 220 million voter files from states across the U.S. The effort, Trump claimed, was carried out by Beijing to favor Biden in “the largest compromise of election data in history.”
“The cover-up of this colossal security breach is even more disturbing in light of the additional information showing that China engaged in other election-related activities to undermine my first administration and our 2020 campaign,” Trump said. “They did not want, they just didn’t want it, (and) they fought like hell not to have it, Donald Trump to win, and for good reason.”
But just days later, Trump downplayed China’s alleged actions, saying he believed the country has changed since Biden’s election and that the U.S. also targets China, though he wasn’t specific about what U.S. actions he was referencing.
“I think China’s maybe a little bit different today than it was then,” Trump said. “But look, they do things. And we do things to them. I’ll be honest. We do things to them, too. It’s not a one-way street. But we’ll be talking to them.”
Joey Garrison, Phillip M. Bailey, James Powel, Fernando Cervantes Jr., Josh Meyer, Terry Collins and Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.