Real support for Harris or Russian interference? On Thursday, September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on American voters to vote for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during his speech at the Vladivostok Economic Forum.
US President Joe Biden “recommended his voters to support Ms Harris, so we will support her too,” the Russian head of state said.
As if to justify his choice, Vladimir Putin considered that the Republican candidate Donald Trump, former tenant of the White House from 2017 to 2021, had imposed “more sanctions on Russia than any president” before him. In fact, Kamala Harris “may refrain from doing this kind of thing,” he said.
However, a few months ago, before the withdrawal of Joe Biden In the race for the White House on July 21, in favor of Kamala Harris, Vladimir Putin had expressed a preference for the current American president, Donald Trump. But then, why this turnaround?
Moscow Strategy
“We see a bit of malice in his look. He is clearly being ironic when he says that,” analyzes Thierry Arnaud, international columnist at BFMTV. According to him, there are two ways to read Vladimir Putin’s statement. The first, but surely the least likely, is that the Russian president really wants to see Kamala Harris enter the Oval Office of the White House after the presidential election next January.
“Or he knows that Vladimir Putin taking a stand for Kamala Harris is actually a statement that will benefit Donald Trump,” analyzes Thierry Arnaud. Indeed, officially supporting Kamala Harris in the presidential race would give the former American president material to criticize his opponent: “You see, the toughest leaders in the world prefer Kamala Harris because she is too weak,” Donald Trump could thus say to his voters, suggests the international columnist.
“Russia and its president are now considered hostile (to the United States) and so having Vladimir Putin supporting one candidate can lead to preferring the other,” he explains.
A sleight of hand that would thus largely benefit Donald Trump, regularly accused by his Democratic detractors of being an admirer of Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump “under influence” facing Putin
Vladimir Putin’s statement in support of Kamala Harris comes a day after accusations of election interference made by Washington and rejected by Moscow. The US government accuses executives of the Russian media outlet RT of having financed the dissemination of conspiracy content, in most cases in favor of Donald Trump for the 2024 election, to the tune of $10 million.
This is not the first time that such a diplomatic incident has occurred, Thierry Arnaud points out. In August 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee highlighted the links between Donald Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 presidential election, Paul Manafort, and Konstantin Kilimnik, a “Russian intelligence agent”. The two men had worked together for nearly 10 years in Ukraine, before Paul Manafort took over the management of Donald Trump’s campaign.
“Most of those who were closest to Donald Trump during his presidency consider that his relationship with Vladimir Putin is problematic and that he is under influence,” says Thierry Arnaud.
“They all say the same thing: Donald Trump is under the influence when he is facing Vladimir Putin, it is a problem and it is potentially dangerous for the United States,” he adds.
- BFMTV.com
