Biden on Election Meddling: 'Bad Guys' Rooting for Trump

President Joe Biden told Time magazine that "there is evidence" China is meddling in November's general election, and added "all the bad guys" are rooting for former President Donald Trump.

Biden, in a Time story published Tuesday, was asked whether he had seen evidence China was meddling "with AI or in other ways" in the election.

"There, there, there, there is evidence that meddling is going on," Biden said according to a Time transcript of a May 28 interview for the story. "I'm not going to get into, I don't think I should from an intelligence standpoint."

Pressed for more info, Biden said: "I think China would have an interest — let me put it like this — would have an interest in meddling," the president said. "Everybody, all the bad guys are rooting for Trump, man. Not a joke."

The 81-year-old Biden is expected to oppose Trump, the 77-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee in November's election.

This is not the first time the Biden administration has suggested China is meddling in the U.S. election.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during an interview with CNN at the end of a three-day trip to China in April, said the U.S. had seen evidence of Chinese attempts to "influence and arguably interfere" with the election.

"We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that's cut off as quickly as possible," Blinken said.

During a meeting with Biden in San Francisco in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would stay out of the 2024 election.

Then in January, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave the same assurances to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CNN reported.

Biden also told Time that foreign leaders frequently tell him that it's important for him to win reelection to protect democracy in the U.S. and abroad.

Taiwanese groups earlier this year alleged that Chinese individuals used AI to manipulate videos and sow discord before the island's national election in January. One example included distorting the words of at least one U.S. member of Congress, The Hill reported.

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