Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia is rooting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, citing her “fascinating” laugh as why he preferred her over his longtime sycophant Donald Trump.
One day after the U.S. charged Russian state media executives and restricted Kremlin-linked broadcasters for allegedly trying to influence the election, Putin answered a question about the U.S. election at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia with a wry smile, saying that his “favorite candidate” was Joe Biden.
Putin had said earlier this year, in an apparently ironic comment, that he preferred Biden over Trump for being a more predictable “old school” politician—but now that he was out of the race, he said he would back Harris.
“If we could name a favorite candidate, it used to be Joe Biden but now he’s not participating,” Putin said. “He has recommended to all his allies to support Ms Harris and that is what we are going to do.”
Putin continued: “Her laugh is so fascinating. It means everything is good and if everything is good… there were so many sanctions against Russia that were introduced and if everything is good with Ms Harris, maybe she’ll refrain from such matters.”
Putin wrapped up his comments on the U.S. election by saying: “In the end, it will be the choice of the U.S. people and we will respect that choice”—a remark that is difficult take seriously given the breadth of evidence of his attempts to influence the American people to vote for Trump in previous elections.
His comments came after his foreign ministry threatened to take retaliatory action against U.S. media in response to the U.S. sanctions on Russian state media. The U.S. on Wednesday announced a coordinated action with the Justice, State and Treasury departments to combat potential election interference, specifically calling out Rossiya Segodnya, and subsidiaries RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik.
While federal prosecutors unsealed money-laundering charges against Konstantine Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, two Russia-based employees of RT, accusing them of hiring an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election, the state department announced a new policy restricting visa issuance to “certain individuals who, acting on behalf of Kremlin-supported media organizations, use those organizations as cover for covert activities, and are responsible for, or complicit in, engaging in covert influence”.
“The American people are entitled to know when a foreign power is attempting to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to send around its own propaganda,” U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland said. He accused Moscow of working to secure a “preferred outcome” in the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, called the U.S.’s actions against Russian media a “witch hunt,” and a sign of the “decline of ‘liberal democracies.” She said on Thursday that “attacks” on Russia media “will not go unanswered.”
“Attempts to expel Russian journalists from the territory of the United States, the creation of unacceptable conditions for their work or any other forms of obstruction of their activities—including the use of visa instruments—will become the basis for the adoption of symmetrical and/or asymmetrical retaliatory measures against American media,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
Trump has long lavished praise upon Putin, calling him a “genius” and “pretty savvy.” Trump has also claimed he would end the war in Ukraine in a “day,” spurring concerns that if he’s elected again, he would cut off aid to Kyiv.
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