Kremlin-controlled news outlets used to root for Donald Trump’s election. Now they’re reveling in the chaos and division of his early presidency.
“Sessions Scandal: ‘U.S Headed to Constitutional Crisis,’” reads a March 3 headline on the website of the Kremlin-funded English-language network RT.
“Immigrants See American Dream Fade in Wake of Surge in Hate Crimes,” Sputnik News, another English language outlet bankrolled by the Kremlin, reported the same day.
“America is in the grips of hatred,” the Russian television commentator Dmitry Kiselyov told viewers of the Rossiya 1 network on Sunday night. The popular host, appointed directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggested the political discord could lead to violence in gun-friendly America — “a dangerous combination with free-flowing firearms,” he said.
It’s not that the Kremlin-controlled outlets which all but explicitly rooted for Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton last fall have changed their view of the New York mogul. It’s that Moscow’s main goal was always to undermine the U.S. political system, regardless of who is in the White House, experts said.
“The Russian government is savoring the severe damage to America’s international image as a result of the tumultuous first weeks of the Trump administration’s tenure,” said Andrew Weiss, a former Clinton White House National Security Council official for Russian affairs.
That’s particularly true given dimming hopes in Moscow that Trump can now deliver on his pledge to cooperate with Putin.
Russian media coverage has a limited impact on the U.S. political debate, even if stories by RT and Sputnik can circulate widely across Twitter and Facebook.
But shifts in how Russia reports on U.S. politics can offer important clues about Putin’s latest views of America.
And at the moment, Putin seems to be reveling in the sense of crisis gripping U.S. politics.
“Are Trump’s policies dividing America more than ever?” asked an RT headline last month.
At the same time, Russian coverage of Trump himself took a more critical turn almost immediately after his inauguration. “Trump Draws Noticeably Smaller Inauguration Crowd Than Predecessor,” Sputnik headlined on Jan. 21.
Other stories in various Russian outlets have spotlighted Trump’s dismal poll numbers, criticized his immigration crackdown and even made fun of his handshake. Russian television has replayed biting “Saturday Night Live” sketches spoofing the new president.
Putin’s Russia might like to befriend and strike deals with Trump. But Moscow is also happy to see him founder if it weakens American resolve at home and abroad, said Weiss, now vice president for policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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Kremlin-backed media turns on Trump
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