Vladimir Putin "endorses" Kamala Harris, but does he actually want her to win?

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fox News/Reuters.

Vladimir Putin appeared to endorse Kamala Harris at an economic event. Fox News. Putin said that it was up to the American people to decide but said that Joe Biden supported Harris so Russia would as well. Putin also joked about her laughter saying that it means everything is fine with her. Biden had previously endorsed Joe Biden saying that he was more predictable than Donald Trump. It's unclear how genuine Putin's statements were though he did note that Trump had sanctioned Russia more than any other American president. However, the intel community says that Russia is trying to get Trump elected. And unlike Harris, both Trump and his VP candidate JD Vance have been skeptical of funding the war in Ukraine. 

She laughs so expressively and infectiously. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a surprising endorsement for who he wants to win the 2024 US election. #USpresident #vladimirputin #russianpresid pic.twitter.com/2lsorHmkED

— Hawk Insight (@hawk_insight) September 6, 2024

My Comment:

It seems pretty clear that President Putin is making fun of our politics here in the United States. Given that he's heard Kamala Harris laugh and is a sane rational person, there is no way that he would actually complement her for that. And given his bemused expression and cadence in the video above it's clear he was having fun with the American media which either took his statement literally, on the right, or condemned it totally, on the left.  

It's unclear what Putin is really thinking though. There's an argument to be made for both candidates in terms of what benefits Russia the most. The pro-Kamala side is pretty obvious. She's incompetent and will double down on the failed policies of the Biden administration. Those policies have helped the Russian economy, greatly damaged the rest of Europe and is gradually pushing more support for Putin from the third world. Indeed, Russia and China are in a de facto alliance now because of Biden and it's clear that Harris will just be more of the same. 

The pro-Trump side is sort of obvious as well. Trump and Vance want an end to the war in Ukraine and will make it a priority to end the war. Trump also has a decent relationship with Russia and would at least be willing to meet with Putin to try and sort the relationship out. 

But I do see a major problem for Putin if Trump does get elected. That desire to end the war means that there will be a big diplomatic push to end the war. And given that Trump is a skilled negotiator that means that Putin may have to give up some of his war aims in Ukraine. With Harris there won't actually be a diplomatic push and instead they would continue the status quo which means that there is a good chance Ukraine collapses and Putin wins everything. 

Regardless though I think what Putin really wants is chaos in the United States. His statements here, along with the nonsense that happened this week with Tenent media. After all, Putin had his goons make a few Facebook posts back in 2016 and it hampered all of Trump's 1st term and still causes division today. By fanning the flames here again, he's trying to make it so that both sides believe that the other candidate is inauthentic. 

Of course none of this would work if it wasn't for the fact that the Democrats allow it to. The fact is that most countries try to interfere with our elections. Iran is doing the same thing and we know that China and Israel do so regularly as well. But somehow Russia captured the imagination of the Democrats and they made a few Facebook posts in 2016 the biggest story in the world...