According to a report from the Daily Beast's Russian media expert Julia Davis, Donald Trump's admission that he may not turn over the reins of power should he lose the election in November echoes suggestions coming out of the Kremlin-controlled press and likely makes Vladimir Putin pleased with his pronouncements.
With the president refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and adding, "Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very—we’ll have a very peaceful—there won’t be a transfer frankly, there’ll be a continuation,” Davis said his proclamation has a familiar ring to it.
Writing, "Russia’s perennial authoritarian [Putin] is no fan of a 'peaceful transfer of power' either, unless it means a smooth transition from him—to himself," Davis added, "the Russian state media publicly concluded that the Supreme Court of the United States—including Trump’s nominee—would decide the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, days before the U.S. president made his ominous pronouncements."
The author noted that Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of state news agency Rossiya Sevodnya (Russia Today), predicted as much back on Sept. 20.
"Kiselyov, who has repeatedly described Trump’s tendency to blurt out his deeply unflattering thoughts as 'simple-minded,' undoubtedly had a chuckle three days later when the words of the U.S. president closely mimicked the conclusions of Kremlin propagandists," the report states.
Pointing to Trump's comment, "I think this scam that the Democrats are pulling, it’s a scam, this scam will be before the United States Supreme Court and I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation. Just in case it would be more political than it should be, I think it’s very important to have a ninth judge,” Davis explained, "As the expert in discrediting democratic institutions and setting up rigged court systems, Putin would surely agree. Perhaps this scenario was even discussed during one of many conversations between the two world leaders, which have become unusually frequent in 2020."
The report also notes the need for Trump to get a ninth justice --picked by him -- on the Supreme Court was picked up by U.S.-based reporter, Valentin Bogdanov on Vesti Nedeli, who commented, "The Supreme Court will play a key part [in the U.S. presidential election], if none of the parties are willing to concede defeat (and everything seems to be pointing in that direction). Currently, the conservatives have a majority there—five justices versus four—but Chief Justice Roberts often votes the same way the liberals do, meaning it’s a tie.”
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