Criticism Aimed at CBS News Over China-Related Voter Data Claims
White House counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka and journalist John Solomon voiced their discontent with CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss on Saturday. They believe the network overlooked President Donald Trump’s assertion that China had acquired files on hundreds of millions of U.S. voters.
Solomon, an acclaimed journalist, pointed out CBS’s past coverage of a Chinese breach involving British voter data. He questioned why this particular story received serious attention, while Trump’s announcement did not. He posted directly addressing Weiss, noting that when the Biden administration revealed China had accessed 40 million publicly available UK voter files, CBS provided detailed coverage. Yet, when Trump mentioned that China secured voter files of 240 million Americans, the report was treated as if it were insignificant.
Gorka, who serves as a deputy presidential adviser and senior counterterrorism director, backed Solomon’s assertions. He accused Weiss of holding onto a persistent bias, despite her distancing from anti-government activities, suggesting that her resignation in 2020 hadn’t shifted her perspective.
Gorka elaborated, stating, “Despite all the praise from those who have fallen for the narrative, Bari Weiss is not a free agent or a neutral journalist.” He further claimed that she does not want CBS to cover issues like China’s interference in elections or how government officials mishandled intelligence regarding these controversies.
A representative for Trump noted that Weiss had previously declined to participate in speaking engagements if Trump was scheduled to appear as well. This behavior, they argued, is not what one would expect from a truthful individual or patriot.
In its coverage of Trump’s Thursday address, CBS quickly questioned the main points he made. David Becker, a contributor specializing in election law, stated that voter files are publicly available across all 50 states and there was no evidence suggesting that China could manipulate registrations using this data.
“Hearing this is quite unsettling,” Becker remarked. “The fact remains that U.S. voter files are public.”
Back in 2021, hackers linked to China breached the UK Electoral Commission’s systems, compromising data of around 40 million voters. The breach began in 2021 and went unnoticed for over a year, according to BBC reports. British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden later attributed the attack to the Chinese government; consequently, the UK imposed sanctions on Chinese state-owned companies following the incident.
Weiss faced criticism specifically after Trump claimed in a prime-time speech that newly declassified documents indicated that China fraudulently acquired 220 million U.S. voter files beginning in the 2020 election cycle. These documents cited at least 18 states with compromised voter rolls, approximately 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote, and a CIA memo alleging Chinese attempts to pay American journalists to publish negative stories about Trump.
China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed Trump’s assertions as “false” and “serious defamation,” accusing the United States of tarnishing China’s reputation.
