As Joe Biden’s presidency faces challenges and his 2024 campaign struggles, the media and Democrats are resurrecting their Russia-collusion narrative.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who often sets the agenda for Democrats, suggested last week that Biden’s 2024 woes stem not from unpopular policies or questions about his cognitive abilities but from a secret Russian plot to aid Donald Trump. Scarborough claimed Republicans in Congress were collaborating with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure a Trump victory. Ironically, Putin endorsed Biden in February.
Their attempt to revive this narrative is undermined by the debunked Russia-collusion hoax from 2016 through 2019. Although this lie was thoroughly discredited, Scarborough clings to it and aims to rewrite history.
“One of the maddening things that you will see out there, people talking about the Russian hoax. They keep talking about the Russian hoax,” Scarborough said, criticizing The Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the hoax. “Russian disinformation is being spread on the House floor by Republican members. Here we have more reporting of what has never really stopped. That is, Vladimir Putin and Russia are trying to help Donald Trump get elected again! Hoax? There is no hoax!” he exclaimed.
The original Russia-collusion claim asserted that Trump conspired with Russia to win the election, whereas the reality is that Russia spreads propaganda. Scarborough’s retelling ignores key elements like the false Steele dossier, fabricated pee tape, Michael Cohen’s alleged trips to Prague, fraudulent surveillance warrants, and other discredited stories promoted by media and Democrats for years.
The latest Scarborough frenzy stemmed from an anonymous New York Times article suggesting a video, supposedly made by Russian operatives posing as Ukrainians, claimed Ukrainians were instructed by the CIA to support Biden. The lack of evidence mirrors previous unfounded New York Times stories.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., amplified the story, tweeting, “Trump/Russia. Trump/Russia. Trump/Russia. How obvious does it have to be??”
A CIA spokesperson told The New York Times the video’s claim was “patently false” and reiterated that the CIA remains uninvolved in U.S. politics, despite previous actions suggesting otherwise.
NBC’s Mika Brzezinski, Scarborough’s spouse, read the New York Times story on air, repeating its claims about Russian interference, reminiscent of 2016’s claims that Trump’s win was due to Russian social media campaigns. However, this overlooks the minimal impact of the 3,000 Russian Facebook ads, many of which were ineffectual and received little engagement.
Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clinton’s communications director, participated in Scarborough’s show, expressing frustration over disbelief in their 2016 claims about Russia. Palmieri’s assertions were described as “factual” by NBC’s Mike Barnicle.
Despite the lack of evidence, the media and Democrats continue to assert that Russian disinformation poses a lethal threat to U.S. democracy, a claim made in 2016 and criticized as absurd.
The current media narrative centers around a video claiming CIA involvement, mentioned later by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., during a hearing on “election interference,” coinciding conveniently with the New York Times story.
It’s evident that the media and Democrats intend to frame opposition to their policies as Russian disinformation, disregarding the falsehood of this claim and their own history of promoting the Russia-collusion hoax. They exploit their control over information and Big Tech to perpetuate this narrative, winning accolades for their misleading reporting.
The misuse of Russian disinformation as a tool to destabilize and delegitimize political opponents poses a greater threat than dubious Facebook ads or online trolls.
