During a portion of an interview with CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood on Friday that was aired on Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that “we have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere” in the 2024 election by China despite warnings from President Joe Biden to not interfere.
Atwood asked, “I want to ask you about a commitment that CNN has reported President Xi made to President Biden when they met in November. We reported that he told President Biden that China would not interfere in the upcoming presidential elections in the United States. But, since then, there have been reports of online Chinese accounts that have falsely mimicked Trump supporters. Do you believe that these accounts violate President Xi’s commitment?”
Blinken answered, “What I can tell you is this: President Biden was very clear about that with President Xi, and I repeated that today, in my meetings. That any interference by China in our election is something that we’re looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us.”
He also stated, “Look, it’s something we’re tracking very carefully. I can’t speak to these specific reports. I can say that, as a general matter, we’ve been very clear with China, don’t do it.”
Atwood then asked, “But they’re not violating the commitment yet, as far as you can tell?”
Blinken responded, “Well, again, I’d have to look at the specific reports that you’re referring to, but 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.”
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