Russian President Putin supported Kamala Harris for November’s U.S. presidential election, an apparent wry remark after the United States issued indictments while blaming Moscow for vote interference.
Vladimir Putin often comments mockingly on political and social issues in the United States.
Putin taunted that the U.S. political system was “rotten” and that Washington could not lecture others for democracy.
The United States has repeatedly warned of efforts by foreign countries to influence the upcoming U.S. election. The US officials also accused Moscow of seeking to influence U.S. ballots dating back to the 2016 contest between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
“Firstly, [U.S. President Joe] Biden recommended all his supporters support Mrs. Harris,” Putin said during a question and answer session at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
Biden withdrew from the race in July amid concerns about his age and health, endorsing Vice President Harris to top the Democratic Party’s ticket.
“Here, we are going to do that too, we’re going to support her,” Putin told the audience, with a wry smile.
“She laughs so contagiously that it shows that everything is fine with her,” the Russian leader said.
“[Former U.S. President Donald] Trump has imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before, and if Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from such actions.”
Earlier, Putin backed Biden over Trump, calling the current president more “predictable.” The White House called on Putin to “stay out” of U.S. elections in response.
Donald Trump said he will end the Ukraine conflict within “24 hours” if he is re-elected. He also praised Putin as a “very smart cookie” who had repeatedly outsmarted the US administration.
Russian President said in July that he took Trump’s comments about bringing a quick end to the fighting “quite seriously,” and denounced the former real-estate magnate’s convictions in the U.S. as “persecution.”
Both leaders’ comments have sparked suspicion Putin would be more sympathetic to a Trump presidency, but the Kremlin has insisted whoever wins will make no difference to the Ukraine conflict.
Putin’s comments came a day after the United States indicted two employees of the state-run Russian news network RT and slapped sanctions on its top editors.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
