Russia Threatens Vax Sabotage, Blackmail & Spy Boost After Biden Calls Putin a 'Killer'

[Celerity]

Last edited Fri Mar 19, 2021, 01:16 PM - Edit history (1)

“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” one Russian official said after Biden called Putin a “killer.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-threatens-vaccine-sabotage-blackmail-and-spy-boost-after-biden-calls-putin-a-killer



The Kremlin was unquestionably furious about President Joe Biden’s Wednesday interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. In contrast to former President Donald Trump’s outright refusal to condemn the Russian leader for any of his actions, when Biden was asked whether he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “killer,” he succinctly replied, “Mmm-hmm, I do.” On Thursday, Putin appeared rattled and irritated as he personally addressed Biden’s remarks during a video call with residents of Crimea marking the anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. Angrily glaring into the lens of the camera, Putin forced a smile and said of Biden, “I wish him good health.” The loaded response could be read as an implied threat, but it most likely refers to ongoing efforts by Kremlin-controlled state media to portray the American president as a hapless elder suffering from dementia.

To achieve this desired impression, Russian state media often airs clips of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson assailing the mental capabilities of the U.S. leader. The campaign to portray President Biden as mentally unfit started well before he was elected, and on that front—and on many others—Russian propaganda narratives seamlessly blended with those of Fox News. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that "there hasn't been anything like this in history" and described the U.S. president’s statements as “very bad.” On the same day the ABC interview aired, Russia recalled its U.S. ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, “for consultations” about relations with the United States. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that relations between Moscow and Washington “have been going through hard times,” blaming the U.S. for bringing them “to a dead end.”

Putin didn’t even bother denying Biden’s “killer” accusation during his Thursday appearance on Russian state TV. Instead, the Russian president retorted with a commentary that roughly translates to “It takes one to know one.” In fact, there is little doubt that Putin bears responsibility for bloodshed abroad; in Ukraine, Georgia, and Syria, and against his own citizens living on foreign soil. Putin was accused of ordering the attempted assassination of his most vocal and effective domestic rival, Alexei Navalny, by a military-grade nerve agent Novichok last year. Putin’s government has also been linked to the 2018 poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England, and the shooting of a former commander of Chechen separatists in Berlin in 2019. Notably, in 2006, Putin signed a law legalizing targeted killings of “extremists” abroad. This Wednesday, the U.S. imposed additional sanctions against Russia for using chemical weapons against dissidents.

Most Russian lawmakers, pundits, and state media experts didn’t even attempt to argue against Biden’s perception of President Putin as a “killer.” They merely recoiled at the unthinkable idea of openly criticizing Putin, which is not only a taboo in the Motherland, but dangerous. “You can think whatever you want, you just don’t say it out loud,” argued politician Sergey Stankevich, appearing on The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev. Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the show, grimly surmised the meaning of the U.S. president’s statements: “This is a declaration of the New Cold War. Of course, we will respond—and we will respond very harshly.” “He let it slip because he is an elderly person. Perhaps he doesn’t realize that the American president shouldn’t be saying these kinds of things out loud,” suggested Russian lawmaker Oleg Morozov.

snip

[Me.]

1. Distraction Won't Help Vlad

the oligarch's are getting fed up with you as are the Russian people, I'd say you're wearing out your welcome and trying to mess with the US isn't going to help.

[Happy Hoosier]

2. The Russians have become...

Quite used to a compliant, obsequious American President. Those days are over Vlad.

[Hugin]

3. Weren't there rumors Putin was going to 'retire' in January?

As usual from the Kremlin. BULLSHIT!

[soothsayer]

13. That disinformation comes up from time to time

From their equivalent of Alex Jones

[CrispyQ]

4. Biden's response isn't much different than Trump's was.

O’Reilly told Trump that Putin is a killer. Trump’s reply: ‘You think our country is so innocent?’
By
Abby Phillip
Reporter
Feb. 4, 2017 at 5:43 p.m. MST

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/04/oreilly-told-trump-that-putin-is-a-killer-trumps-reply-you-think-our-countrys-so-innocent/

In an interview with Fox News's Bill O'Reilly, which will air ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday, Trump doubled down on his “respect” for Putin — even in the face of accusations that Putin and his associates have murdered journalists and dissidents in Russia.

“I do respect him. Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get along with them,” Trump told O'Reilly.

O'Reilly pressed on, declaring to the president that “Putin is a killer.”

Unfazed, Trump didn't back away, but rather compared Putin's reputation for extrajudicial killings with the United States'.

“There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers,” Trump said. “Well, you think our country is so innocent?”

[dalton99a]

5. It's time for real sanctions, and removal of Russia from the world's financial system

Make them carry cash in suitcases like North Korea

[Celerity]

7. 'removal of Russia from the world's financial system'

The EU will never agree to it. Too much oil and natural gas involved.

[dutch777]

12. I think getting everyone on the same page re: containing Russia, is an issue

That said, I wonder how hard we (including the EU) would have to sanction them to get them to really behave? I think as long as they can sell their fossil fuels and other hard commodities at scale, they will not heel. We won't sponsor war to help Ukraine retake control of the Crimea. We could complicate their lives by causing issues with their allies like Syria and Iran that would show that Russia is really not willing to do much or risk much, they just want to tweak our nose by whatever means they can.

[EarlG]

6. "Russian state media often airs clips of Fox News' Tucker Carlson"

Whether you're a white supremacist who loves Russian propaganda, or a Russian propagandist who loves white supremacy, you can get it all on Tucker Carlson Tonight, weekdays on Fox News at 8 PM Eastern!

[Demsrule86]

8. That is so sad and yet so funny...

[tavernier]

9. We "elderly people" don't "let things slip"

We tell exactly what we are thinking. Enough games with these butchers and thugs. Let the light shine on it so we can all see.

[Walleye]

11. My auntie Alice lived to be 104. We thought it was because she always spoke her mind

[Talitha]

10. "Mmm-hmm, I do."

Well, Joe did promise he'd never lie to us.

[soothsayer]

14. It's fun to see a bully freaking out when stood up to

Go, Joe!

[Celerity]

15. +1000

[llashram]

16. won't help

the days of having a weak traitor in the WH doing Russia's(Putin's) bidding are over. The threats...

[Clash City Rocker]

17. Vaccine sabotage would prove Biden to be correct

So this isn’t about the statement being a lie, he’s just trying to intimidate Biden into not telling the truth. Sounds like he’s admitting to being a killer.