MS NOW's Jen Psaki was stupefied at new reporting that Trump advisers James Blair and Chris LaCivita went overseas to back a pro-Russia party in the Balkans — but even more so at the excuse Trump's super PAC gave to justify it all.
"Where were they this weekend?" said Psaki. "With just a month left until the midterms, where were they? They were thousands of miles away from the U.S. in the Republic of Srpska, a self-governing region within the countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina." And while there, Psaki said, they were paid "hundreds of thousands of dollars each ... to help a Putin-aligned political party acquire more power. That's what they pay for."
This party is hardcore servants of the Kremlin, Psaki noted: "the leader of that political party visited Putin at the Kremlin himself just last week. At the meeting, he expressed support for Russia's war with ukraine and villainized the West for causing all of their problems. That's what two of Trump's top political advisors were up to this weekend, and elections less than a month away, helping that guy get more political power and reportedly earning hundreds of thousands of dollars each for their trouble."
What made it even crazier, though, she said, is how MAGA Inc., the top Trump super PAC, responded to the bad press.
"As if this story could just could even get more tone-deaf, a spokesperson for the MAGA Inc. super PAC declined to comment on Blair and LaCivita's trip to the Balkans, but he did say that while they were overseas, the two 'remained fully engaged in the PAC's midterm efforts,'" said Psaki, quoting The New York Times, adding that the spokesperson said "that even while they were reportedly in the Balkans, the two even hosted a team call on Saturday to go over survey data for the midterms. Again, as if the ability of these two MAGA advisors to participate in their political zoom calls while they were in the Balkans was the major concern here."
By contrast, Psaki added, "I, for one, am just a tad bit more alarmed about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they raked in, working on behalf of a Kremlin stooge, right? I mean, this wasn't just any race. This was a race to prop up a pro-Putin political party that actively opposes the West. And just a reminder, guys, we are the West. So that's not a great look."
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