The whole reason Russian television hosts have boosted Trump to their audiences is that they thought that as president, Trump was going to be more explicit in doing Russia favors and/or in screwing up the United States so badly it couldn’t recover. The ironclad rule of Donald Trump is that nobody anywhere actually likes Donald Trump, though, so it’s not like there’s any real alliance between Trump and the Russian pundit class. Russian politics, at this point, is just one big organized trolling campaign, and professional trolls recognize professional trolls when they see them.
The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis is a devoted Russia watcher who reports on Trump’s Russian boosters’ conflicting but mostly merry moods. Ever-goofy propagandist Vladimir Solovyov had quite a bit of fun with the indictment, complete with a fake picture of Trump in prison orange. Maybe Donald can flee to Russia and live under an assumed name!
This is about as fun-loving as Russian political television gets, so enjoy it. It’s filmed from the inside of a giant vodka bottle. Solovyov also “relished the idea of Tucker Carlson portraying poor Trump as a victim,” reports Davis. “I can write [Tucker’s] talking points,” Solovyov volunteered.
Russia’s state media has a bit of a Fox News obsession in general. Can’t imagine why.
During Tuesday’s broadcast of 60 Minutes, multiple AI-generated images of Trump in prison flashed on the jumbotron, followed by a series of clips from Fox News that bemoaned the alleged injustice of Trump’s prosecution.
While Solovyov was speculating on whether Donald would bolt for a Russian apartment, however, other pundits were just enjoying the ride. Host Olga Skabeeva: “Trump may soon be outfitted in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed. We’re getting lots of popcorn and waiting!”
Donald Trump has tried to kiss up to Russian kleptocrat Vladimir Putin for approximately forever, whether it’s for an imagined new “Trump Tower Moscow” or just from the general camaraderie Donald appears to feel towards murderous thieving autocrats the world over. The admiration only goes one way, though. Putin’s state media treats Trump as a troll to be nurtured and exploited, but if Donald Trump isn’t going to regain the presidency—and that looks like a steep climb—then Donald rotting in a prison cell would at least be hilarious.
And here you thought the two countries had nothing in common. It doesn’t matter where you live or what your government is like; the desire to see Donald Trump get some comeuppance is a worldwide phenomenon. Heck, even Tucker Carlson secretly wants Donald to end up in jail. Tucker hates this guy “passionately.”
Our planned Ukraine episode will have to wait, as Donald Trump is being arraigned in New York City for his role in falsifying records to hide hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. This is the first of a potential slew of indictments coming Trump’s way, and we are here for a celebration of karmic justice—and to talk about what happens to the Republican Party after this.
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