Russian TV Mocks Donald Trump Over Stormy Daniels Woes
Trump #Trump
Donald Trump was mocked by guests and the presenter on Russian state TV on Monday night, as they discussed speculation the former president is about to be arrested for allegedly arranging the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, a former pornographic actress who claimed she had an affair with the business tycoon.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Trump violated campaign finance laws with the $130,000 payment to Daniels, made by his former fixer Michael Cohen towards the end of the 2016 presidential election campaign.
He has strongly denied having sexual relations with Daniels, or breaking election finance laws, posting “I did NOTHING wrong” on his Truth Social website.
On Monday evening the case was discussed on a show hosted by Vladimir Solovyov, nicknamed ‘Putin’s voice,’ on the state controlled Russia-1 channel. The exchange was highlighted and translated by Russian Media Monitor, which tracks Russian state media.
Solovyov described Trump as “the only person in America that hasn’t gone crazy,” then joked about him having the rank of “Major” within the Russian intelligence service due to his supportive attitude.
When another guest suggested this rank is low for a former president Solovyov replied: “Yes, I know he was president. Maxim Maximovich Isayev [a famous fictional Soviet spy] was a Colonel. You want Trump to have a high rank? A Major at the most.”
A 2020 Senate report upheld the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to try to help Trump get into the White House. Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia, but Russian state media often jokes about him being a Russian agent.
Solovyov later rejected the suggestion Russia might “collaborate” with Trump, insisting he would “follow the instructions of his higher ups,” an apparently joking reference to claims Moscow has influence over the former president.
Discussing rumors of Trump’s arrest with Solovyov, Russian commentator Dmitry Drobnitsky said: “Aside from this hegemon [the U.S.] being dangerous as an international actor, it’s also going through a difficult process, experiencing the disintegration of government.
“This leads to chaotic and dangerous actions, on the international arena as well as internally. The arrest of Donald Trump is an event on the level of a banana republic, if they arrest him tomorrow. Nothing like this has ever happened.”
Newsweek has contacted Trump for comment via his official website.
On March 18, Trump predicted he would be arrested the following Tuesday, and called for his supporters to “protest.” Critics accused the former president of stoking unrest, and compared the situation to that before the storming of Congress on January 6, 2021 by hundreds of Trump supporters.
In recent weeks both Trump and Ron DeSantis, his biggest potential Republican primary rival, have criticized President Joe Biden’s Ukraine policy, with the Florida Governor saying the country isn’t a key U.S. national security interest. This has sparked hope in Russia that a Republican win in 2024 could see U.S. support for Ukraine curtailed, or even ended, as Moscow’s forces struggle on the battlefield.
Related Articles
Start your unlimited Newsweek trial