Russian Media Is Angry and Desperate Over Biden Win
NO PUPPET
“What is the world coming to?”
Julia Davis
With Joe Biden declared America’s newest president-elect, darkness descended over Russian state media this week.
Pro-Kremlin news anchors, pundits and experts have long dreaded former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, having described it as “the worst scenario for Russia.” As their nightmare became an inevitable reality, Russian state television shows were permeated with angry faces and raw emotion.
“Nothing will ever be the same... What are we witnessing? What is the world coming to? Not only this country, but the world?” mournfully asked Evgeny Popov, the host of Russian state media show 60 Minutes. Panelists in the studio grimly outlined the bevy of consequences Biden’s presidency may mean for the Kremlin.
Lawmaker Leonid Kalashnikov, who admittedly celebrated Trump’s victory in 2016, said: “Unfortunately, Trump lost.” Pontificating about what Biden’s presidency will mean for Russia, Kalashnikov surmised: “Understandably, I have nothing to be happy about... All of us should be thinking: ‘What is Russia supposed to do now?’ Get ready to be disconnected from SWIFT [international banking payment system]? That Europe will line up along with their sanctions?” He warned fellow Russians about the wave of incoming consequences: “Trump lost, so it’s time to get ready ... They will start fighting against us like they do in the Middle East.”
Dmitry Abzalov, Director of the Center for Strategic Communications, concurred: “All of us are hostages of this situation ... Biden will come and punish everyone who acted against him.”
“This whole time, we’ve been living with an illusion that Trump is ours,” noted political scientist Ilya Graschenkov. Host Evgeny Popov corrected him: “Trump IS ours, but couldn’t lift anti-Russian sanctions because of the legislation signed into law by Democrats.” Visibly irritated by the lack of deliverables from the Trump administration, combined with the surety of additional punitive measures anticipated from the incoming president, Popov exclaimed: “We spit on them both!”
Trump’s presidency netted plenty of benefits for the Kremlin—from the weakening of transatlantic alliances and decline in America’s global standing, to the deepening divide within the United States. But the Kremlin believed that the American president would pay off like a slot machine on a much bigger scale during his second term. Disappointment with Trump’s failure to lift the sanctions, recognize the annexation of Crimea, stop U.S. support for Ukraine and other perks eagerly anticipated by the Kremlin was threaded through the statements made by Russian lawmakers and political figures.
“Nothing will ever be the same... What are we witnessing? What is the world coming to?”
In his interview with radio station Echo Moskvy, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky—who famously celebrated Trump’s 2016 election by throwing a champagne party in Russia’s parliament—bitterly complained: “Trump didn’t do anything good for us ... In his election campaign, he promised to improve [relations], but in reality he did nothing, he didn’t even come here. All U.S. presidents came to Russia and invited our president to their place in Washington, everyone except him. Donald Trump did not come to Moscow and never invited our president to Washington. Therefore, all we are left with are bad memories.
NO PUPPET
“What is the world coming to?”
Julia Davis
With Joe Biden declared America’s newest president-elect, darkness descended over Russian state media this week.
Pro-Kremlin news anchors, pundits and experts have long dreaded former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, having described it as “the worst scenario for Russia.” As their nightmare became an inevitable reality, Russian state television shows were permeated with angry faces and raw emotion.
“Nothing will ever be the same... What are we witnessing? What is the world coming to? Not only this country, but the world?” mournfully asked Evgeny Popov, the host of Russian state media show 60 Minutes. Panelists in the studio grimly outlined the bevy of consequences Biden’s presidency may mean for the Kremlin.
Lawmaker Leonid Kalashnikov, who admittedly celebrated Trump’s victory in 2016, said: “Unfortunately, Trump lost.” Pontificating about what Biden’s presidency will mean for Russia, Kalashnikov surmised: “Understandably, I have nothing to be happy about... All of us should be thinking: ‘What is Russia supposed to do now?’ Get ready to be disconnected from SWIFT [international banking payment system]? That Europe will line up along with their sanctions?” He warned fellow Russians about the wave of incoming consequences: “Trump lost, so it’s time to get ready ... They will start fighting against us like they do in the Middle East.”
Dmitry Abzalov, Director of the Center for Strategic Communications, concurred: “All of us are hostages of this situation ... Biden will come and punish everyone who acted against him.”
“This whole time, we’ve been living with an illusion that Trump is ours,” noted political scientist Ilya Graschenkov. Host Evgeny Popov corrected him: “Trump IS ours, but couldn’t lift anti-Russian sanctions because of the legislation signed into law by Democrats.” Visibly irritated by the lack of deliverables from the Trump administration, combined with the surety of additional punitive measures anticipated from the incoming president, Popov exclaimed: “We spit on them both!”
Trump’s presidency netted plenty of benefits for the Kremlin—from the weakening of transatlantic alliances and decline in America’s global standing, to the deepening divide within the United States. But the Kremlin believed that the American president would pay off like a slot machine on a much bigger scale during his second term. Disappointment with Trump’s failure to lift the sanctions, recognize the annexation of Crimea, stop U.S. support for Ukraine and other perks eagerly anticipated by the Kremlin was threaded through the statements made by Russian lawmakers and political figures.
“Nothing will ever be the same... What are we witnessing? What is the world coming to?”
In his interview with radio station Echo Moskvy, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky—who famously celebrated Trump’s 2016 election by throwing a champagne party in Russia’s parliament—bitterly complained: “Trump didn’t do anything good for us ... In his election campaign, he promised to improve [relations], but in reality he did nothing, he didn’t even come here. All U.S. presidents came to Russia and invited our president to their place in Washington, everyone except him. Donald Trump did not come to Moscow and never invited our president to Washington. Therefore, all we are left with are bad memories.
