Having gotten over their initial shock at the FBI’s investigation of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Russian insiders and pundits have begun to dismiss it as much ado about nothing, albeit a convenient story they could use to smear American democracy. Now they sing a different tune. On the most recent show of the state TV show Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, host Vladimir Solovyov remarked: “I am very worried about our agent Trump. They found everything at Mar-a-Lago, they took packages of documents. In all seriousness, they say he should be executed as a person who was prepared to hand over nuclear secrets to Russia.” Appearing on Solovyov’s show, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also raged against Moscow’s alleged prosecution of the beloved former US president. In a strange twist, he tried to connect the Mar-a-Lago investigation to Trump’s earlier statement that there are only two sexes, male and female. “In the West, you are not allowed to call a man a man. You can’t call a woman a woman. You are not allowed to call a child male or female until they reach the age of 2-3 years,” he said. “In the face of the upcoming election battles, one of the contenders for a political role – the most important political role in the United States – Donald Trump is stepping up and saying: ‘We’ve gone too far. There are only two sexes: male and female.” Zakharova then implied that the search of Trump’s property was somehow related to his stance on gender identity. “Immediately, practically instantaneously, dozens of US intelligence cars, dozens – approaching hundreds – of special agents, FBI and so on, searched his house, grabbed boxes of some papers… and started saying he broke the law. beware—of espionage! Five minutes from now, this man could be declared an American spy.” Solovyov shouted:[He could be declared] Russian spy… Will we try to trade him to bring Trump to Russia? Will they put Trump on the prisoner swap list?’ A day earlier, the host had bemoaned a “crackdown” against Trump and complained about the terrible mess the US had become on his radio show. But the decorated Russian propagandist boasted that he had not been sanctioned by the United States, even though his visa recently expired. Waiting for a better political climate, Solovyov decided not to renew it yet. Having initially believed that better times were ahead and that Trump’s return to the White House was imminent, prominent Russian propagandists dubbed him “the Teflon Don” and predicted that he would overcome the FBI investigation as just the latest speed bump in his supposed “pursuit of the deep state”. Now that more details have emerged, their views have turned pessimistic. Appearing on the Solovyov Live program on Monday, Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the Middle East Institute, wryly noted that — in light of Trump’s baggage — Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis, known in Russia as “Number Two,” may be a better bet for Republicans. At this point, Russian speakers aren’t sure whether DeSantis would be as likely as Trump to befriend Russia and abandon Ukraine — but that’s where their propaganda aimed at US voters is supposed to come in. More than ever, Russian state media are stressing the need to influence Americans ahead of the midterm and future presidential elections. Kremlin-controlled interlocutors are loudly hoping that the Americans will see things their way, choosing to focus on domestic issues, abandoning Ukraine and abandoning sanctions against Russia. In addition to their convenient talking points such as Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Russian state media also announced that they would like to broadcast news from Russia directly to the US during Monday’s broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, American Dmitry Drobnitsky said: “The main point of polarization is fast approaching. In November, people in the West need to listen to the Russian news, especially in light of the growing interest… We need to overcome these barriers, why isn’t anyone doing this? This will be one of the most important elements of our future success.”
