Russian and Iranian officials, along with Chinese media, continue to mock the uncertainty of the American presidential election.
"Obvious shortcomings of the American electoral system are evident," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told CBS. Those shortcomings, she said, are "partly due to the archaic nature of the relevant legislation and the lack of regulation in a number of fundamental points."
Russia has made a serious and extended effort to undermine the American public's confidence in the election. In September, the FBI sanctioned a cabal of Russian hackers who had interfered in the 2016 and 2018 elections, and federal authorities continue to crack down on Russian efforts to spread disinformation.
Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei also mocked the American election.
"The incumbent president, who is supposed to hold the elections, says this is the most-rigged U.S. election throughout history," Khamenei said, apparently not realizing that the American president does not administer the vote. "Such an empire will not last long."
On the eve of the election, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told American media that Tehran sees Joe Biden as the "more promising" candidate. Iran also engaged in a disinformation campaign to undermine American foreign policy on Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that U.S. authorities shut down 92 websites associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for spreading disinformation.
While the Chinese Communist Party has made no official statement on the election's ambiguous returns, institutions associated with Beijing have weighed in.
One state-owned Chinese periodical concluded that "so-called US-style democracy has descended into a joke," and the state-affiliated Global Times claimed that Chinese citizens watch American election coverage for "laughs" and "comicalness."