New textbook for Russian students claims Donald Trump lost in 2020 due to ‘rigged’ US polls

A textbook introduced for students in Russiaclaims that former United States President Donald Trump did not win the 2020 presidential elections due to voter fraud which was committed by the Democrats.

The images of the content in the history book - which is being reportedly studied by students in the 11th grade - are being circulated on social media platforms in recent days. A page from the book was posted by a foreign correspondent for The Times (UK), Marc Bennetts on his X account and he translated the text inthe book which read - Trump lost the election "as a result of obvious electoral fraud by the Democratic Party."

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Trump, along with his allies, has been facing criminal charges and has been accused of interfering with the 2020 electionresults in which President Joe Biden emerged victorious. Meanwhile, claims by Trump of the election being riggedhave been widely debunked in the courts and other judicial places.

Trump has also faced criticism for complimenting Russian President Vladimir Putin even though he has condemned the invasion of Ukraine. Still, few Russian analysts have said that the Kremlin is likely to prefer Trump over Biden in 2024.

Professor at the University of Chicago, Konstantin Sonin, who has been writing frequently about Russian politics, talked about the claims in Russian textbooks regarding the 2020 election, on X.

Textbookmakes unproven claims

Speaking to Newsweek about the textbook, Sonin said that he didn't doubt the content'sauthenticity and that the publication of the book was announced earlier this year in a press conference by the authors of the book and Russia's Minister of Education Sergei Kravstov.

Another excerpt from the textbook was shared by Bennetts on X, which included Biden's photograph wearing a mask which was designed to curb the spread of respiratory illnesses.

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As per Bennetts, the excerpt included some unproven claims regarding President Biden. "On (masked) Biden from the same Russian school textbook 'His entire political career has been accompanied by corruption scandals. He and his family have commercial interests in Ukraine,'" wrote Bennetts.

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Putin in February 2022, Biden has been one of the strongest allies of Kyiv and has been pledging more support to the war-torn country as it tries to fight against Russia. The US president has also disparaged Putin publicly by calling the Russian leader a "pure thug" and a "murderous dictator".

(With inputs from agencies)