Ever since President Donald Trump made it to the white house, there has been a lot of talk and controversy surrounding Russia and its so-called interference with the 2016 presidential election. Many Americans believe that Russia meddled with our electronic voting machines and "hacked" our election. In a technologically advancing world, such a claim seems like a possibility, but there has been no real evidence that this is actually true. With the over 130 million Americans who voted in the 2016 presidential election, it is impossible to know for sure whether Russia had anything to do with the ultimate outcome or not.
Although there is no evidence of Russian interference with the presidential election, such a possibility is scary. Cyber security is a big issue in the United States and any possible hack should be thoroughly looked into. However, considering all of the other claims and attacks that have been coming from the left-wing media since the election of President Trump, this seems like another attempt to give the president a hard time. After all, wasn't President Obama who poured over $350,000 into the campaign of Benjamin Netanyahu's opponent in Israel? If that isn't foreign influence on an election, I don't know what is. Why is it that there is a double standard when it comes to this? Until there is some substantial evidence backing up such a claim of Russia being the reason for President Trump's victory, it seems that it is safe to say that Americans were ready for real change.
Caleb, I agree that cyber security is a big issue in the United States, due to the high volume of technological advances that are being made every day. However, I have to say I disagree with your statement on the Trump-Russia allegations.
ReplyDeleteThe hacking scandal has been slowly unfolding since the first accusation in May of 2016. Although it was never 100% confirmed, US intelligence officials did say that they believed with "high confidence" that the hacking could be traced back to Russia. This is a huge accusation from the United States and I do not think they would have suggested such a thing if they truly didn't believe Russia was at fault. I definitely believe this could be considered, as Caleb says, "substantial evidence." The Trump administration denied these findings. After this allegation, President Trump's then campaign manager was accused of taking money from the Russians for representing their interests in the Ukraine and US. Not long after this accusation, Mr. Paul Manafort was investigated by the FBI and then soon resigned from his position. In October of 2016, US Intelligence officials released a statement formally accusing Russia of the hacking allegations. Trump's response? "Could be Russia, but it could also be China, it could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds." This in itself just suggests that President Trump is making light of a serious situation. He is avoiding any real confrontation and continues to "tip-toe" around all evidence. Just because our President doesn't want to come to terms with the truth (most likely because he's involved himself), doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't either. Although there's more evidence that has come to light in the past months, I will stop there.
Furthermore, every time this topic comes up in press conferences, President Trump will avoid answering the question in any way that he can. Most often times, he will distract them by referring them to the Hilary Clinton scandal, the Obama phone tapping or just brush it off like no one ever asked in the first place.
This puts the citizens of the United States in an awkward position- they continually have evidence put in front of them, but their national leader keeps refusing to accept it. Ultimately, it is up to every person individually to believe what they want - however, the truth always comes out and I look forward to hearing about it in the months to come.
I completely agree with the statement that you make concerning a double-standard. The media had their minds made up before election day as to who was supposed to win. When their carefully laid plans did not pan out, they resorted to other means to try and discount the Trump Presidential win. I would also agree that cyber security is a big threat to our country. With the massive amounts of technological improvements that are constantly being made, there is a threat to us, and we must be vigilant in safeguarding our country.
ReplyDeleteTo think that the media is not biased and doesn't show us only things they want us to see, is clearly not being honest. Do I think it works from both sides, yes. I am willing to acknowledge that. Do I think that Russia played a part in the Trump win? No, I do not. Trump had no prior political experience or intimate relations with Russia. Why or how would he have gained the knowledge or been able to contact Russia to set something like this up? Our government knows all. Would they not have know something like this? And if so, would they not have mentioned BEFORE they lost the election? Seems a little strange to me to pull out the Russia hacked us card.