For decades, it was standard practice for the U.S. State Department, via its embassies and consulates around the globe, to publicly opine on the perceived fairness and legitimacy of elections in foreign nations, typically as part of a broader effort to coerce or manipulate those foreign nations into adopting America’s democratic values.
Those days are now over, per a new directive from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that largely prohibits State Department employees from commenting on or critiquing foreign elections, unless there is a “clear and compelling” U.S. foreign policy reason to do so, the Associated Press reported.
The guidance from Rubio is aligned with President Donald Trump’s expressed stance on respecting the sovereignty of foreign nations, just as he expects them to respect U.S. national sovereignty.
New rules on foreign elections
Fox News reported that, in a memo distributed to all U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, Sec. Rubio wrote, “Consistent with the administration’s emphasis on national sovereignty, the Department will comment publicly on elections only when there is a clear and compelling U.S. foreign policy interest to do so.”
The communication continued, “Messages should avoid opining on the fairness or integrity of an electoral process, its legitimacy, or the democratic values of the country in question,” the memo continued, and further noted that the U.S. would “hold firm to its own democratic values and celebrate those values when other countries choose a similar path.”
Provided that a foreign election was not disputed, U.S. embassies and consulates could post messages congratulating the winner, but officials were told to focus only on the “outcome of an election, not the process.”
Senior-level sign-off, which would be “rare,” would be necessary for posts denouncing another nation’s electoral processes, such as instances of violence or cheating.
Rubio’s memo said, “DO use messaging on elections to advance a U.S. foreign policy goal,” but warned, “DON’T use it to promote an ideology.”
The directive further instructed would-be message writers to pause and consider before posting, “Would the president say it?”
Trump sets standard on respecting national sovereignty
The Hill reported that an unnamed State Department spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo that had been sent out and reiterated that, per President Donald Trump’s stated position on respect for national sovereignty, “The Department will comment publicly on elections only when there is a clear and compelling U.S. foreign policy interest to do so.”
Referencing the president’s speech in Saudi Arabia, the spokesperson said, “President Trump clearly articulated his vision of an ‘America First’ foreign policy in his Riyadh speech on May 13. The President praised the progress that comes from sovereign countries, pursuing [their] own unique visions, and charting [their] own unique destinies in [their] own way.”
Henceforward, per Sec. Rubio’s memo, “When it is appropriate to comment on a foreign election, our message should be brief, focused on congratulating the winning candidate, and, when appropriate, noting shared foreign policy interests.”
Following the rules
The Hill noted that the State Department, as recently as May, congratulated the South American nation of Suriname on its “free and fair elections,” and Sec. Rubio, who in the past has been outspokenly critical of dubious elections in other nations, congratulated the new president last week and said the two nations “have a strong and growing partnership built on shared democratic values and a mutual dedication to regional stability and prosperity.”
The last time that the State Department was publicly critical of a foreign nation’s election came in January during the final days of the prior Biden administration, when an official statement slammed Belarus and President Alexander Lukashenko, who purportedly won re-election with 86% of the vote amid complaints of voter intimidation and silenced dissent, for “depriving the Belarusian people of the opportunity to choose their own leaders and determine their own future.”
The post State Department issues new guidance on maintaining neutral stance on foreign elections appeared first on Conservative Institute.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Ben Marquis
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://conservativeinstitute.org and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
