Among countries where elections are rigged and large-scale election fraud is committed by the 'deep state', Russia stands out. But it clearly escaped notice from former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who this week became the first American to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Carlson did not express concern that Russia was using a new online electronic voting system for the first time in the March election. But like COle J. Harvey of Oklahoma State University, an expert on election rigging in authoritarian countries, told The Washington Post that online voting could be a “game changer” for President Putin. Voter pressure, cheap and efficient counterfeiting.”
The Kremlin is also desperate to avoid a large-scale anti-war protest vote that could embarrass Putin. He seeks a fifth term that could see him in power until 2030.The March election comes at a time when Russians are angry about Ukraine's heavy casualties and growing economic difficulties. Amid this conflict, the last remaining anti-war candidate was banned from running against President Putin.
With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear first arguments on Colorado's decision to ban Donald Trump from voting in just a few days, it seemed inevitable that Carlson would ask Putin about countries that ban candidates.
But did it? yet.
Related articles: Tucker Carlson Interviews President Putin, But Did It Go Off Track Quickly?
femaleWhile Carlson was visiting Moscow, Russia's Central Election Commission was deciding which candidates would appear on the presidential ballot.
Russia already had legislation banning people linked to “extremist” organizations from the presidency, including jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The committee allowed three non-threatening candidates to run, along with President Putin. They were all members of small political parties that basically supported Kremlin policies. And as a member of Congress, you didn't have to collect signatures to get your name on the ballot.
But on Thursday the CEC banned Boris Nadezhdin, the only pro-peace candidate, from challenging Putin.
The 60-year-old physicist, former member of parliament and moderate opposition politician was writing an election manifesto that began with the words: “I am contesting the elections as a principled opponent of Putin's policies.” Nadezhdin also claimed that Putin was dragging Russia into “the past” and that it “made a fatal mistake” when it went to war in Ukraine.
Nadezhdin needed 100,000 signatures of support from voters across Russia to qualify for the ballot. His team reported GA.There were about 200,000 signatures. but Under Russian law, he could only submit 105,000 signatures to the CEC on January 31. At Thursday's hearing, the committee claimed 9,147 invalid signatures, leaving only 95,587 valid signatures.
Naturally, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the CEC's dequalification of Nadezhdin.
Putin has never faced a serious threat to his rule since he took power in 1999. He won 53% of the vote in the 2000 presidential election, and most recently won 77% of the vote in 2018. Still, according to Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet now based in Latvia, is hoping the Kremlin will see Putin win more than 80% of the vote this year. This is the highest figure of any candidate in Russian history.
Exiled Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann told the BBC that Nadezhdin was initially dismissed as an uncharismatic and harmless candidate. But the Kremlin was caught off guard last month when thousands of Russians stood in long lines in sub-zero temperatures to sign Nadezhdin's petition.
Nevertheless, he was really only a threat to Putin's '80%' ego trip. Citing Kremlin sources, Meduza said the situation had reached a “new urgency” after independent opinion polls showed Nadezhdin could win more than 10% of the vote in the election. that much overwhelming majority “That’s what he’s after.”
Nadezhdin said in a statement on Telegram that he would appeal the CEC's decision to the Russian Supreme Court.
But don't expect Russia's Supreme Court to consider complex constitutional issues to expedite the case. Stanislav Andreychuk, director of the banned independent election monitoring group Golos, told the Amsterdam-based Moscow Times that Nadezhdin's appeal was “highly unlikely” to reach the Supreme Court. And sources close to the Kremlin told Meduza that it was “impossible” for Nadezhdin to get on the ballot.
“From everything that is said publicly, especially everything that the president says, the society stuck together to Strive for victory. And this can suddenly give the impression that a significant portion of the population is eager for the future. special military operations Until the end,” the source explained.
The source acknowledged that since Nadezhdin's campaign began it has “gone from a niche story to a large-scale story” and that the Kremlin had underestimated (even in such an indirect way) the number of Russians willing to “speak out” about the war. I admitted it. ).
The ruling came on a day when the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Donald Trump's appeal to vote in Colorado. A landmark case will be decided Whether Trump could be disqualified under the 14th Amendment, which bars former public officials who “participated in insurrection” from holding office. Legal experts said the justices are unlikely to disqualify Trump from the ballot but are instead looking for some kind of “doorway” that could overturn the Colorado Supreme Court's decision.
Carlson has made many false claims about massive fraud in the 2020 US presidential election. Although he was personally skeptical about some of them. and In a video clip posted on It was called. said: “None of this seems very American. All of this looks like the de facto end of democracy.”
But should anyone be surprised?Are you saying there was absolutely no mention of the Russian presidential election during Carlson's two-hour interview with President Putin? He certainly didn't ask questions about other important topics.
The Washington Post wrote:
He did not ask a single question about Russian attacks on civilian areas or critical infrastructure in Ukraine that killed thousands of people. There was no mention of the war crimes charges facing the Russian leader or the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. There were no questions about Russia's massive political crackdown on Putin's critics or the long prison sentences handed down to ordinary Russians who stage anti-war protests.
What was it like for Carlson to be criticized by Putin? Same as always.
Hillary Clinton proved this right in an MSNBC interview on Wednesday, calling Carlson a “useful idiot” who is “like a puppy” to Putin.
Mark Sumner of Daily Kos also had success.
Overall, Carlson looked like an idiot, staring with his mouth open for hours while Putin ignored his few questions or openly laughed at him. Putin was presented, appropriately enough, as a self-important fascist idiot willing to justify anything with an hour-long “drunk history.” On the right to provide reasonable defense against Russia or to exert influence over aid to Ukraine, Carlson has taken a bone-dry position.
meantime,
Nadezhdin finds himself the target of a vicious TV smear campaign. Putin's propagandist Vladimir Solovyov warned that Nadezhdin risks being poisoned or imprisoned like other prominent Putin opponents.
“The fate of Navalny and (Vladimir) Kara-Murza awaits him,” Solovyov said. “No one will care, he’s in prison. Is Borya destined to spend his old age in prison?!”
Nadezhdin remains steadfast. “Participating in the 2024 presidential election is the most important political decision of my life,” he wrote on Telegram. “I will not withdraw my will.”
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