Presidential elections in America were front and center in the Russian state-controlled media, due to the widespread belief that Donald Trump’s return will all but guarantee the success of the floundering Russian invasion of Ukraine. During his morning broadcast on channel Solovyov Live, host Sergey Karnaukhov noted, “The new era has started. We’ll see what happens next.”
Wednesday morning’s broadcast of the state TV show 60 Minutes was dedicated almost entirely to the topic of American elections, with multiple video compilations of Trump dancing to the tune of YMCA by the Village People.
Beaming from ear to ear, state TV host Olga Skabeeva announced Trump’s “resounding” victory and remarked, “Trump now has 24 hours to end the war in Ukraine. Donald, the clock is ticking! This is what Trump has promised.” This excitement is based on a certainty in Moscow that Trump’s concept of ending this war simply means stopping U.S. aid to Ukraine and rewarding Vladimir Putin by handing over a handsome collection of Ukrainian territories to Russia.
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During his evening show The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, host Vladimir Solovyov predicted that Trump would simply “blackmail” the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into going along with his preferred solution by getting Elon Musk to cut off the access to Starlink in Ukraine and by immediately ceasing all U.S. aid and any access to the data provided by the U.S. military intelligence to the beleaguered country facing Russia’s aggression.
During the broadcast of The Big Game, host Dmitry Suslov said, “There is only one place in the world where the mood is worse than it is at Kamala Harris’ campaign headquarters: Bankova Street, the office of the president of Ukraine in Kyiv.”
As the results of the U.S. election rolled in and Donald Trump’s victory became all but certain, Russian propagandists found themselves conflicted—after all, the preceding broadcasts roundly predicted that Trump would lose due to “rigged” elections and “rampant fraud.” Appearing on 60 Minutes, State Duma member Andrey Isayev decided to stick to the pre-written talking points and declared that Trump’s victory demonstrates that the American elections are fraudulent. He exclaimed, “These elections have demonstrated one thing to the whole world: when Americans are lecturing anyone that their elections aren’t being conducted correctly, they have the least right to do so.”
U.S. analyst Malek Dudakov explained the Democratic defeat using good ole racism. He predicted that for the next presidential elections in 2028, the Democrats “will no longer conduct experiments with dark-skinned women” and will instead “nominate a white man.”
The host of the show The Meeting Place Andrey Norkin didn’t hide his sentiments. He said, “In America, Trump once again beat a broad—this time, it was an even nastier broad than the one he beat eight years earlier.” Co-host Ivan Trushkin happily noted, “I watched CNN last night, it looked like a funeral.”
Gevorg Mirzayan, research fellow of Russia’s US and Canadian Studies Institute, was even more jubilant. Having bet on Trump’s victory, he received bottles of cognac from Norkin and his fellow panelist Viktor Olevich, neither of whom believed Trump would win.
Mirzayan praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for his slick move of a pretend-endorsement of Kamala Harris in order to boost Trump. He pointed out, “Contrary to his previous logic, Putin started to claim that the Democrats were more beneficial for us. According to the opinion of many experts—including myself—he made a very nuanced play to benefit Trump.” Norkin chimed in, “This was pro-Trump trolling.” Mirzayan replied, “Absolutely correct, for all those in America who were calling Trump Putin’s agent.”
Host Andrey Norkin noted that according to some reporting in the U.S. media, Trump intends to call Putin today and follow up on his promise to end the war in 24 hours, even before he is formally sworn in as the next U.S. president. Norkin said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if he calls and Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] doesn’t pick up?”
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