Since the start of his 2016 campaign, former President Donald Trump's repeated deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked concern among Republicans and Democrats alike.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina—one of Trump's most vocal allies in the Senate—claimed in 2017 that his administration had a "blind spot" for Russia. The next year, Trump infamously sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence officials at a joint presser in Helsinki, suggesting he believed Putin's lie that Russia made no attempts to interfere in the 2016 election to benefit Trump. And while Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference couldn't conclusively prove the Trump campaign was in on Russia's election interference, it did identify "numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign."
In the years since, Trump's devotion to Putin remains strong. Trump continued to praise Putin even ahead of the latter's invasion of Ukraine. As Putin was amassing troops at the Ukrainian border and declaring two pro-Russia separatist regions of the country sovereign, Trump hailed his strategy as "genius." When the invasion began, Trump called Putin "smart" for executing it.
Now, Russian state television is making it clear the Kremlin sees an ally in Trump. Evgeny Popov, of the Russian show 60 Minutes (not to be confused with the American CBS News program) hailed the former President and encouraged Russians to help Americans overthrow Biden and help Trump retake the White House, even before the 2024 election.
Watch below.
Evgeny Popov, host of the very popular 60 Minutes TV show on channel Rossiya 1, has called on the American people to overthrow the Biden regime, and called on Russians to support them in that.
This is a state owned TV and the views of Popov do not stray far from the Kremlin line pic.twitter.com/n9XJEwF2Y4
— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2022) March 30, 2022
Popov said:
"It's time for us, our people, to call on the people of the United States to change the regime in the U.S. early, and to again help our partner, Trump, to become president."
His comments come days after President Joe Biden said in a speech in Warsaw, Poland that Putin "cannot remain in power," though Biden later clarified he was expressing "moral outrage" at Putin's atrocities, not calling for regime change.
If Trump's past record wasn't enough, Popov's comments cemented the perception among Trump's critics that the ex-President has a soft spot for Russian interests.
They’re not even hiding it anymore https://t.co/sX4jypkM73
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) March 30, 2022
Putin attacks and commits war crimes in Ukraine. Trump asks Putin for help attacking the Bidens’. Russian TV now advocates for their “partner Trump” to be elected to office.
Interested to see how Tucker and the GQP try to spin this into a positive. https://t.co/anBvgbfZse
— Mike Lux (@ProgressiveLux) March 30, 2022
Putin-Trump 2024 https://t.co/OSehwfsvkX
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) March 30, 2022
Any questions?… https://t.co/L2GjX1RqpE
— Michael Muscato (@michael_muscato) March 30, 2022
Another day in the undermining of American democracy by Donald Trump. https://t.co/nbe45a067l
— Just Elizabeth, II 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@nihil_ad_rem) March 30, 2022
Popov's use of the word "partner" wasn't lost on anyone.
...our partner Trump
This happened yesterday and not a single denouncement from the GOP.
Substitute the names Biden or Obama for Trump and the outrage from Republicans would be heard all the way to Moscow. https://t.co/SoBMxNFXzK
— Shelby Kent-Stewart ™ (@ShelbyKStewart) March 30, 2022
"and to again help our partner Trump to become President." https://t.co/OAYasfDYu4
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) March 30, 2022
“Our partner Trump.” Tells you eeeverything you need to know. #TraitorTrump https://t.co/0AlOT4nxd6
— CaliJ (@KJD_Zen) March 29, 2022
"Our partner Trump." https://t.co/m0hElaZ07x
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 30, 2022
Trump recently publicly urged Putin to release dirt on President Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
