Tag: kremlin propaganda
Republicans Using Hurricane Relief To Promote 'Kremlin Propaganda'

Republicans Using Hurricane Relief To Promote 'Kremlin Propaganda'

As the devastation from Hurricane Helene became increasingly apparent over the weekend, MAGA loyalists were falsely blaming the U.S. federal government, Vice President Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden of ignoring the victims and refusing to provide critical resources. As critics called out their lies, one fascism and authoritarianism expert accused pro-Trump social media accounts linking Ukraine aid to Helene assistance of spreading Russian propaganda.

'We're not leaving until the job is done," President Biden vowed Monday morning in a White House address (video below), saying he expects to tour the areas devastated by Helene this week, likely Wednesday or Thursday—but not until first responders are able to do their work without his presence being "disruptive."

"I've been told that if we disrupt, if I did it right now, we will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any response assets needed to deal with this crisis."

The President then detailed the scope of the federal government's response.

"I and my team are in constant contact with governors, mayors and local members. Head of FEMA, Ann Griswold, is on the ground now in North Carolina. She's going to stay in Asheville, and that place of reason for the foreseeable future, there's been reports of over 100 dead and the consequence of the storm, and there are reports about 600 people unaccounted for because they can't be contacted. God willing they're alive, but there's no way to contact them again because of the lack of cell phone coverage."

"I directed my team to provide every available resource as fast as possible to their communities, to rescue, recover and to begin rebuilding," Biden said.

He noted that FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Defense are on the ground.

"So far, that's over 3600 personnel deployed. That number is growing by the day."

"I quickly approved requests from governors of Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia and Alabama for an emergency declaration. And I approved additional requests for the governors of North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, and for disaster declaration to pay for debris removal, provide financial assistance directly to survivors. FEMA and Small Business Administration are there to help the residents whose homes and businesses were literally destroyed, washed away or blown away, and the federal search and rescue teams have been working side by side with state and local officials and partners in very treacherous conditions to find those who are missing and they'll not rest until everyone's accounted for."

"Your nation has your back, and the Biden Harris administration will be there until the job is done," the President promised.

He also suggested he may ask Congress to return from its extended recess to approve additional funding for the areas devastated by Hurricane Helene.

The White House on Sunday published an even more detailed report, which circulated on social media.

Barely minutes after President Biden concluded his remarks, Donald Trump posted on social media he was on his way to Valdosta, Georgia, claiming he will travel to North Carolina later, "but don’t like the reports that I’m getting about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas. MAGA!"

Trump's suggestion is false, according to numerous reports.

"More than 500 North Carolina National Guard members are now working alongside local emergency responders conducting search and rescue missions, delivering needed supplies and working to restore infrastructure," North Carolina's Democratic Governor Ray Cooper said Sunday, the Asheville Citizen Times reported.

"The U.S. National Guard said on X Sunday that more than 5,500 members from 11 states are supporting Hurricane Helene response missions," the paper added. "The North Carolina National guard activated more than 500 soldiers and airmen along with over 200 vehicles and aircraft, according to a post on X Sunday."

But in May of 2017, then-President Trump denied "99 percent of federal recovery funds for Hurricane Matthew," PBS News reported.

Despite the massive federal response by the Biden administration, Trump and his MAGA supporters and disinformation purveyors have been "pushing Kremlin propaganda" about the response, falsely claiming that Biden and Harris, or the federal government in general, are refusing to assist victims, and state and local governments, with a large focus on funding for Ukraine.

"This propaganda to tie the hurricane to Ukraine is insane," wrote the Center for European Policy Analysis's Olga Lautman, whose "research focuses on the cross-section of organized crime and intelligence operations in Russia and Ukraine, their impact on the West, and the monitoring of active measures campaigns conducted by the Kremlin to destabilize democratic practices and influence foreign elections."

"For 2 days, far right propagandists are lying that Ukraine received funding and Americans aren’t despite Biden approving immediate federal funds. More proof of them pushing kremlin propaganda by focusing only on Ukraine," she added.

Despite countless news reports to the contrary, Sunday evening, far-right podcaster and columnist Matt Walsh falsely declared: "Unfortunately the North Carolina flood victims are citizens of the USA, not Ukraine, so the Biden Administration sees no reason to help them."

Stephen Miller, the former Trump White House senior advisor and architect of his child separation policy, falsely claimed on Sunday evening: "Kamala used every available government resource to airlift and evacuate 500 thousand Haitian illegals to the United States. But she couldn’t lift a finger to rescue drowning Americans in Asheville."

Monday morning he responded to a Harris video vowing to help those affected by Helene, and despite all reports of aid and assistance, he wrote: "Americans are dying and they are drowning. You failed to warn them. You failed to evacuate them. You failed to rescue them. Just like you failed in Afghanistan. Except this is on our own soil."

A former editor at the far right-wing website Breitbart, Emma-Jo Morris, on Sunday evening wrote on social media, "I wish North Carolina was as important as Ukraine." That one post has received almost one million views. She followed that up with, "Isn’t there a corruption opportunity for Joe Biden in North Carolina so we can get them some aid."

Far right-wing commentator and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich on Sunday blasted this post off to his 1.3 million followers: "They let Maui burn, they let Asheville drown, can the country survive four more years of this?"

Other top pro-Trump surrogates, like U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Monday afternoon falsely claimed the Biden-Harris administration "Abandoned the people of North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee impacted by the hurricane."

Watch the videos above or at this link.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Kremlin Still Claims Kherson Even As Russian Troops Abandon Major Port City

Kremlin Still Claims Kherson Even As Russian Troops Abandon Major Port City

The Russian army pulled out of the region around the city of Kherson overnight on Thursday, leaving behind army uniforms, stockpiles of ammunition, and a local populace cheering the arrival of Ukrainian forces in the street. The New York Times reported from the front lines yesterday that the Russian military has left the small village of Blahodatne, located on the strategic M14 main highway leading to Mykolaiv, another port city on the Pivdennnyi Buh about 60 miles west of Kherson. Ukraine has held Mykolaiv for some time but has not held Blahodatne or any of the other villages to the west and north of Kherson.

The Russian defense ministry announced in Moscow this morning that the retreat of all Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnipro River was complete. The Times, which has a photographer and at least two reporters on the scene, reported that the Russians are setting up new defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro and were beginning to shell Ukrainian military units advancing on Kherson on the west bank of the river.

The Times reporters, Andrew E. Kramer and Marc Santora, wrote that they had spoken by phone to residents of Kherson this morning who told them that “While there was no visible Russian military presence in the city on Friday, four residents described seeing Russian soldiers dressed in civilian clothes — some armed — moving about parts of the city.”

“Kherson is returning under the control of Ukraine. Units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are entering the city,” the intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s defense ministry said in a statement released in Kyiv on Friday morning.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Putin’s government appeared to still be laying claim to Kherson. “Kherson region is a subject of the Russian Federation. This status is fixed,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, announced. “There can be no changes here.”

Reports from the front lines in Kherson indicate that Peskov should probably consult the local residents, who continued to greet advancing Ukrainian troops waving the distinctive blue and yellow national flag of Ukraine. The Russian defense ministry spokesman in Moscow appeared just as deluded. “Not a single piece of military equipment and weaponry was left … and there were no losses of personnel, weapons, equipment,” a defense ministry spokesman said.

Below is a photograph of a warehouse in Blahodatne that was part of a Russian military base there. The photo was taken by Lynsey Addario of the New York Times on Friday morning. It shows stacks of ammunition boxes and rows of what appear to be 82 mm mortar rounds lying on the ground. That is Russian ammunition. Those are Ukrainian troops walking through the warehouse examining their find.

Ukrainian soldiers in weapons depot captured from Russians in Blahodatne, Ukraine on November 11, 2022Photo by Lynsey Addario/New York Times


Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

Reprinted with permission fromLucian Truscott Newsletter

With Russia-Linked Advisor, Greene Parrots Kremlin On 'NATO Nazis'

With Russia-Linked Advisor, Greene Parrots Kremlin On 'NATO Nazis'

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) is once again being heralded as a hero after his impassioned speech on the House floor Thursday, during which he blasted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for, among other vulgarities, likening NATO to the Nazis.

"She talks about NATO Nazis. Does the minority believe that our allies in NATO, who are trying to defend the people of Ukraine are Nazis? Has it come to this?" Raskin asked on Thursday.

"She said the aid that the taxpayers of America are sending to the people of Ukraine to defend themselves against Vladimir Putin and the Russian army falls into the hands of Nazis. I want to see her proof. Where's her evidence?"

Pointing to an article on Rep. Raskin's remarks criticizing Greene, attorney, professor, and author Seth Abramson shed a great deal of light on the Georgia Republican Congresswoman.

"I wonder how many Americans know Greene did this," Abramson asked, referring to Greene likening NATO to Nazis, "less than 12 hours after the top primetime Kremlin TV program compared NATO to the Nazis."

"I also wonder how many Americans know that one of Greene’s top advisors has been a Kremlin-connected guy for decades," he added.

Probably not many.

Urging people to "Google both those things," Abramson writes: "Greene is advised by a Kremlin-connected individual in the same way that Trump was in 2016—and if you think it’s a coincidence she’s parroting Kremlin propaganda in real time the way Trump did you need to follow golf instead of politics."

He points to a March article at The New Republic titled, "How Republicans Spent Decades Cozying Up to Putin’s Kremlin," that begins: "The man who once worked to connect Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff to Russia is now chief of staff to Marjorie Taylor Greene. Any questions?"

It gets worse.

"Take Ed Buckham, the recently appointed chief of staff for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene," The New Republic piece continues. "Today, Buckham handles a congresswoman who proudly attends 'white supremacist, antisemitic, pro-Putin' rallies, as Congresswoman Liz Cheney characterized them, and has become renowned for touting conspiracy theories about how the California wildfires were started by Jewish space lasers. On Thursday, when the House of Representatives voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, Greene, not surprisingly, was one of eight Republicans who voted against it."

Abramson also links to video, and writes: "And here is Kremlin TV calling NATO the world’s 'collective Hitler' just hours before Greene did the same thing while advised by a Kremlin-connected chief of staff. Greene has thrown in her lot with the Kremlin. She wants *election aid* from Russia."

Here's that video, which is subtitled in English:

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

Russian TV: 'Preparations' Under Way To Get Trump Re-Elected In 2024

Russian TV: 'Preparations' Under Way To Get Trump Re-Elected In 2024

Propagandists on Russian state television told their public audience last week that the time has arrived to sever diplomatic relations with the United States and that the Kremlin is finalizing its "preparations" to interfere with future American elections.

The Daily Beast's Julia Davis reports that President Joe Biden's unwavering support for Ukraine has revitalized Moscow's appetite for manipulating the American electorate.Their objective, one of the individuals revealed, is to "again help our partner," former President Donald Trump, "to become president."

But Davis' takeaway was a little broader. While Trump is certainly a valued asset inside of Russia, Davis believes that "the real agenda of the Kremlin’s operatives was never limited to boosting any particular candidates, but rather aimed to harm America as a whole."

This line of thinking was evident in conversations that occurred among Russian President Vladimir Putin's "puppets" on state television, Davis found.

“With Europe, economic wars should take priority. With America, we should be working to amplify the divisions and—in light of our limited abilities—to deepen the polarization of American society," political scientist Malek Dudakov said on Thursday's edition of The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev.

“There is a horrific polarization of society in the United States, very serious conflicts between the Democrats and Republicans that keep expanding. You’ve already mentioned that America is a dying empire—and most empires weren’t conquered, they were destroyed from within. The same fate likely awaits America in the near decade," he continued. "That’s why, when all the processes are thawed, Russia might get the chance to play on that.”

Davis noted that the show's host, Vladimir Soloviev, believes that Putin's bloody war in Ukraine and the US's backing of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government is a preview of an upcoming clash between the US and Russia that is only starting to heat up.

He lamented that Russia's ability to spread disinformation was significantly diminished when Russia Today was banned on American airwaves after Putin attacked Ukraine.

“I would act through various diasporas" to make up for the elimination of that channel for misinformation, Soloviev said. "For example, I would work with the Spanish-speaking media—since America is becoming predominantly Spanish-speaking, with the colossal influence of Latin America, I would work through their press, through those narratives, moving in that direction… they aren’t allowing us to work with American media directly, but we have many opportunities that we aren’t using thus far.”

Other chatter, however, went far beyond ideological battles, according to what Davis' witnessed on Soloviev's program just days earlier:

Pundit Karen Shakhnazarov: 'I would find it useful to break diplomatic relations with the United States. I don’t see any point in maintaining them. And that would deliver a crushing blow to Biden. There are plenty of people in the U.S. who say that he is bringing us all to the edge of nuclear war. That will be a strong signal.'

Soloviev expanded on that point, suggesting that Russia should just go ahead and nuke the US because that is the true nature of the war in Ukraine.

“De facto, we aren’t fighting a campaign against Ukraine, but against the entire West," he said. “Maybe it’s time we strike them?" he added, referring to the US, "since we’re already a pariah state, a war criminal if everything is so bad.”

Davis pointed out that "short of nuclear holocaust, it is now clear that Russia is focusing its efforts on distracting America from its foreign policy objectives by threatening to meddle in US internal affairs."

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

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