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Ex-ambassador McFaul switches to Russian to celebrate midterm victory over… Putin Ex-ambassador McFaul switches to Russian to celebrate midterm victory over…Putin
(about 3 hours later)
Many people celebrated the Democratic Party’s takeover over the House, on social media, but one person in particular couldn’t help switching to the Russian language to celebrate, what he believes to be, a defeat of Vladimir Putin. As Democrats basked in the glory of their takeover of the House of Representatives from Republicans last night, former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul celebrated in the only way he knows how: making it all about Russia.
Michael McFaul, who served as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Moscow and became an avid commentator on all things Russian after leaving office, is apparently overjoyed to see his favorite party back in control of the lower chamber of the US Congress. He cheered the result with a post in Russian saying: “Victory! Regards to VVP,” using the initials of Russia’s president, whose full name is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Another post simply said “Yes!” in Russian in response to the expected victory. An overjoyed McFaul, who served for two years as Barack Obama’s ambassador to Moscow, took to Twitter to congratulate his party on successfully taking control of the lower chamber of congress — but in an odd move, decided to write the tweet in Russian and frame the victory as a defeat of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former diplomat, now an academician and author of a book about his tenure in Moscow and US-Russian relations, is apparently convinced that Putin would be upset with the results. This is because, as you know, he is the not-so-secret puppet master behind Donald Trump, blackmailing him into imposing anti-Russian sanctions, trying to take over Russia’s share of the European energy market, forcing Russia to spend more money on nuclear weapons and doing other things that make Putin happy. READ MORE: Michael McFaul, what have YOU done to help improve US-Russia relations?
Another familiar voice declaring a triumph over the Russian president in the midterms is William Browder, a US-born British investor shark, who reimagined himself as a brave human rights crusader after being accused of financial crimes in Russia. Browder celebrated a victory in a “proxy war in Orange County”, because “Putin minion” Dana Rohrabacher failed in his reelection bid there. It’s really convenient when you can declare, with impunity, that people you disagree with are minions. “Victory! Regards to VVP,” McFaul wrote — the initials a reference to the Russian leader whose full name is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Another post simply said “Yes!” in Russian in response to the Democrats’ expected victory.
The US media have started preparing adherents of the Trump-Putin collusion theory for disappointment after valiant knight in shining armor, Robert Mueller, fails to produce a presidency-ending revelation once his investigation concludes. This was rather odd, given that the so-called ‘Russiagate’ scandal (remember that?) was virtually absent from the midterm election campaigning. Perhaps because the Democrats finally realized people were sick of hearing about President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia without evidence to back it up.
‘Russiagate’ was virtually absent from the actual midterm campaigning, probably because Democrat voters didn’t care about how the party establishment chose to deflect blame for their 2016 failures. McFaul hasn’t forgotten about it though. Following his tenure as Russia ambassador, McFaul cashed in on his Russia expertise, writing a book on US-Russia relations and becoming a prolific Twitter and media commentator at a time when demand for Russiagate conspiracy mongering was at an all-time high in the aftermath of Trump’s election victory.
McFaul’s laser focus on Russia has now apparently led him to believe that Putin is genuinely saddened by the results of US congressional elections. Of course, this is what you might believe too, if like McFaul, you were also convinced that Putin is secretly in control of Trump — a narrative which makes little sense when you consider that Trump has in many ways actually taken a tougher stance on Russia than his predecessor; imposing further sanctions, trying to push Russia out of the European energy market and threatening to withdraw from a longstanding nuclear arms treaty with Moscow.
McFaul was not the only one who declared triumph over the Russian president last night, however. Bill Browder, the US-born British investor and former Putin fan who rebranded himself as an anti-Putin human rights crusader (after being accused of financial crimes in Russia), announced that “Putin loses proxy war in Orange County” after his “minion” Dana Rohrabacher failed in his reelection bid. Rohrabacher had previously taken issue with aggressive US policy toward Russia and thus found himself branded a Kremlin stooge.
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