The news that President Joe Biden would not run for re-election caused a stir not only in America, but also in Russia, where pro-Kremlin propagandists are kicking up a fuss about what it would mean for their beloved Donald Trump.
Appearing on Monday’s broadcast of a state TV show 60 Minutes, State Duma member Oleg Matveychev complained that Biden’s move is a disaster for Trump’s election chances. “He is left without any trump cards!” Matveychev said. “Previously, he could easily attack Biden’s health, now he has nothing left to attack. More than that, attacking Biden at this point would be seen as inappropriate and rude.”
“Now they’re switching to [Vice President Kamala Harris] and are trying to attack her, but nothing new will stick to her,” Matveychev added. “Bringing up the fact she is not quite white will only activate her electorate.”
Russian state TV’s coverage of Harris—which is a carbon copy of what is playing on Fox News—was largely limited Monday to attempts at mocking her laughter.
Matveychev said that Biden’s departure from the race rendered the previous agenda obsolete. Discussing the age of the U.S. president or an assassination attempt against Trump is now yesterday’s news, he argued.
Could’ve had more time to campaign and we wouldn’t have had to witness the embarrassment with the age and people trying to dismiss it as nothing. I think that did some damage
I don’t want more time to campaign. I want shorter campaigns. The more or less completely unbounded length of the American presidential campaign season is frankly exhausting and soul-destroying. I hate it so much.
At the same time, I do get what you mean.
The writing was on the wall after the debate, but if I were a craven political strategist I’d recommend doing it to keep the Dems in the news while the clown-show of an RNC was going on.