As Russia’s war of aggression continues to ravage its neighbors, the Kremlin’s propaganda apparatus has been more open than ever as it outlines the country’s goals for its greatest archenemy, the United States
US intelligence officials reported last week estimated that Russian President Vladimir Putin could use the Biden government’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to meddle in the US election. Although AP reported that “it is not yet clear which candidates Russia may seek to promote or what methods it may use,” Russian state media seem to agree that former US President Donald Trump remains Moscow’s candidate of choice.
The time has come “to help our partner Trump again to become president,” said state TV presenter Evgeny Popov recently explained. In Thursday’s edition of state-run TV show The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, Putin’s favorite pundits offered an update on plans for 2024.
“We try to find our way around, to find out the first steps. What can we do in 2023, 2024?” said Russian “American” Malek Dudakov, a political scientist specializing in the US. He pointed out that Russia’s interference in the upcoming elections is still in its infancy and that more will be achieved after the war is over and frosty US-Russia relations begin to warm. “When things thaw and the 2024 presidential race is firmly on the agenda, there will be moments that we can capitalize on,” he added. “The most trite approach I can think of is to invite Trump — before announcing that he is running for president — to a future summit in liberated Mariupol.”
Dmitry Drobnitsky, a ubiquitous “American” on Soloviev’s show, suggested that Tulsi Gabbard should be invited along with Trump. Dudakov agreed: “Tulsi Gabbard would be great too. Maybe Trump will make her his vice president?” Gabbard has become a fixture on state television lately, and in fact, with her pro-Russian talking points been described as a “Russian agent” by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine.
If state television is any indication, the real agenda of the Kremlin agents was never limited to promoting any particular candidate, but rather aimed to harm America as a whole. Dudakov emphasized: “In Europe, economic wars should have priority. With America, we should work to deepen divisions and, given our limited capabilities, deepen the polarization of American society.”
“The general elections are still to come and preparations for them are already underway.”
He continued, “There is a terrible polarization of society in the United States, very serious conflicts between Democrats and Republicans that continue to widen. You mentioned before that America is a dying empire – and most empires were not conquered, they were destroyed from within. The same fate likely awaits America in the next decade. Therefore, when all processes are thawed, Russia could get a chance to play on it.”
Dudakov’s Twitter feed, which he maintains despite the service being suspended in Russia, offers a glimpse into his own propaganda efforts. Dudakov tweets as “Duderman67” and focuses on criticizing US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton – while empowering Trump.
In his show on Thursday, presenter Soloviev argued that Russia is not yet fighting the United States with full competence and lamented the loss of the main weapon behind enemy lines: “the excellently functioning structure of RT,” the Kremlin-funded state television network , which was banned from US cable channels last month.
He then offered his own ideas on how to influence American voters without RT’s help: “I would operate through different diasporas. For example, I would work with the Spanish-language media — as America is becoming predominantly Spanish-speaking with the colossal influence of Latin America, I would work through their press, through these narratives, moving in that direction…they’re not. It allows us to work directly with American media , but we have a lot of opportunities that we haven’t used yet.”
Vitaly Tretyakov, dean of Moscow State University of Television, who appeared on Soloviev’s show two days earlier, complained that Russia had: “Military hypersonic weapons, but we don’t have informational hypersonic weapons … all our armed forces have to focus on that. We have.” no information weapons as powerful as our hypersonic weapons…contrary to what they have. You cannot survive in this world without winning an information war. No way.”
Expert Karen Shakhnazarov suggested: “I would find it useful to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. I see no point in taking care of them. And that would deal a crushing blow to Biden. There are many people in the US who say it is bringing us all to the brink of nuclear war. That will be a strong signal.”
That wasn’t the only talk about nuclear war on Soloviev’s show this week. On Thursday, Soloviev confirmed a well-known concept, often aired in state media, when he conceded: “In fact, we are not campaigning against Ukraine, but against the entire West.” A parade of experts reported on the various effects of the US Sanctions on the Russian economy and limited opportunities for Russian retaliation. Soloviev pulled out his beloved trump card to intimidate the West: the threat of nuclear war. He asked, “Maybe it’s time to hit her? We’re already a pariah state, a war criminal, if everything is so bad.”
Nuclear holocaust aside, it is now clear that Russia is focusing its efforts on distracting America from its foreign policy goals by threatening to interfere in US internal affairs. Konstantin Dolgov, the deputy chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of the Russian Federation Council, spoke on Soloviev’s show last week about the upcoming midterm elections and predicted that “obviously the results will not be good for the Democrats” as gasoline prices are rising Midterms, he emphasized, are “just a dress rehearsal. The general elections are still to come and preparations are already underway.”