There are "several other" countries beyond Russia and Iran who have interfered with the upcoming election, National Secuirty Advisor Robert O'Brien said Wednesday.
"As you know, it's not just Russia and Iran," O'Brien said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "It's China, and there are several other countries we have not yet gone public on. We're taking major steps to protect the elections."
O'Brien said that he's held White House meetings with the National Security Council and that the Department of Homeland Security is working with secretaries of state across the country. He added that the Iowa National Guard is using its "terrific cyber unit" to detect interference in the state.
"Across the country, we're making big efforts to make sure our election infrastructure's hardened and that people know their votes are going to be counted," he said.
Meanwhile, it should come as no surprise that Iran or Russia would try to interfere in the election, he said.
Iran has been cut off from the "jackpot they received '' when they signed the multi-nation nuclear deal because President Donald Trump pulled the United States out in 2018, said O'Brien, adding that Iran doesn't like the fact that Israel has been making peace with Arab nations.
"The same thing with Russia," said O'Brien. "The president's been tougher on Russia than any administration since Ronald Reagan. We see that they're out on Twitter and various places with disinformation. You can see the same thing with China."
The administration also is working through the Department of Homeland Security to ensure secure elections, said O'Brien.
"The good news is we're so decentralized, 95% of the ballots that are cast have some sort of paper analog so that they can be audited," he said. "It's very difficult for an adversary to actually change the outcomes of the elections, and we've been doing everything we can to make sure that's the case on Election Day."
The topics for Thursday night's debate, meanwhile, don't include items on foreign policy, but O'Brien said he wants to focus on what Trump has done, particularly concerning peace in the Middle East.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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