"Team Putin in a Panic Over Jan. 6 Hearings ‘Lynching Trump’"

"The House select committee’s primetime Jan. 6. hearings are causing conniptions in Moscow.

The attempted insurrection was embraced by the Kremlin as cause célèbre,
with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself calling for an
investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt, who was part of the crowd attacking the U.S. Capitol. Russia’s state-controlled media obsessively covered the notorious attack, praising the would-be insurrectionists as law-abiding protesters and criticizing the United States for prosecuting
them. But now, propagandists seem to be concerned that the hearings may negatively impact the chances of re-election for their so-called
“partner,” former U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

Kremlin-controlled state media has been relishing the faltering
popularity ratings of President Biden, describing Trump as a shoo-in for re-election and openly hoping that a Republican takeover in the midterms
would spell a change in America’s foreign policy towards Ukraine. The
Jan. 6 committee hearings seem to be a fly in the ointment and now
Putin’s propagandists are no longer certain of what the future elections might hold.

Assuming that a criminal prosecution against Trump is all but
inevitable, state TV host Vladimir Solovyov seemed perturbed during his
show The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov last Friday: “Look at what’s
going on in America. A criminal prosecution against Trump and his
followers is an obvious step towards a dictatorship.” Solovyov failed to mention the kind of penalties one might face in Russia for attempting a
violent insurrection, where people get arrested for something so
innocuous as holding up a sign that says “Peace,” or even a blank sheet
of paper. Since dissenters are not invited to participate in his
broadcasts, Solovyov didn’t have to worry about anyone contradicting his portrayal of events in the United States with unflattering comparisons
to Russia."
[snip]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-state-media-in-a-panic-over-january-6-hearings-lynching-donald-trump

TB

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