Intel Agency Assessed China Planned To ‘Encourage’ Violent BLM Riots To Hurt Trump In 2020

The Chinese planned to stoke Black Lives Matter riots and other social unrest in 2020, using the corporate media to launder the narrative in order to tank the election for President Donald Trump, according to documents released by the White House on Thursday. Intelligence summaries from 2020, which were apparently hidden from the president at the time, show that the Chinese planned on “encouraging violent demonstrations and looting to increase the appearance of social unrest” ahead of the election, and to “exploit U.S. societal fissures and vulnerabilities,” in part by “alleging that White people hate Black people.” The Chinese were interested in “inciting demonstrations and marches as evidence of racial divides; increasing the level of conflict between police and anti-racism activists; and feeding any sense that U.S. law enforcement resents USG and people of color,” according to one intelligence summary from a “sensitive government agency.” The document stated that “China had developed capabilities to project themes on these topics into social media (Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others), as well as mainstream media through a variety of overt and hidden influencers and media contributors.” In other words, the documents highlight the potential that the corporate media fueling race riots and unrest in 2020 were either knowingly pushing Chinese propaganda to alter the election, or were too dense to realize it. The media encouraged demands for a “racial reckoning,” corporate capitulation to the BLM mob, billions in damages from burning American cities to the ground, and the degradation of institutions in order to unevenly apply the law on racial grounds, apparently in line with the wishes of the Chinese government. Some in the media, however, appeared to not only advance Chinese propaganda, but also to orchestrate cover for the Chinese once people started to catch wind. In September 2020, The Heritage Foundation highlighted the possibility of Chinese influence in the BLM riots. Heritage noted that 95 percent of the riots were linked to BLM and pointed out evidence that Chinese activist groups were funding them, stating, “The U.S. government should connect the dots and investigate the extent of the Chinese Communist Party’s support for the Black Lives Matter organization and the riots.” One month later, when the argument started gaining steam — and only a few weeks out from Election Day — Axios dutifully ran the headline “Right-wing media falsely ties Black Lives Matter movement to Beijing.” Axios explicitly supported the BLM riots. CEO Jim VandeHei encouraged his staff to join them and said the company would pay for bail if they were arrested and medical bills if they were injured. “We proudly support and encourage you to exercise your rights to free speech, press, and protest. If you’re arrested or meet harm while exercising these rights, Axios will stand behind you and use the Family Fund to cover your bail or assist with medical bills,” he said in an email to staff. Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.