Russian state media went into super drive after US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he will not be running for reelection.
Kremlin-backed news channels took jabs at the United States, amplifying the divisive messaging already pervasive in American election coverage. One Russian news anchor declared that Biden had “finally” left the race and that his announcement is only “bringing more turmoil to his party.”
Biden’s announcement elicited a burst of mockery in Russian state media, with pieces arguing that American democracy is illegitimate and “Putinism,” with its stability and strength, is far superior. But analysts say that these messages reveal much more about Russian politics than the US election.
The rhetoric on Russian political talk shows has been even harsher than that of state media outlets.
During a segment from a program hosted by prominent Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, he and a group of pundits laughed at a montage of Biden gaffes.
Solovyov then translated a recent disparaging social media post about Biden by former US President Donald Trump on Truth Social, and then went on to mock US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now a candidate in the race.
“The dominance of state media in Russia is so overwhelming that even if people don’t buy it completely, it is the main image that they have of the Western world now,” said Francis Scarr, a journalist who follows Russian state media for BBC Monitoring. “It forms the overwhelming picture of what the rest of the world looks like.”
He added, “It’s very typical of Russian state TV to try and discredit Western leaders, and contrast them negatively to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. Often, Western leaders are ridiculed, or they’re presented as being incompetent and not having the kind of statesman-like qualities that Putin is presented as having.”
Scarr explained that Russian media outlets don’t see Biden or Harris as democratically elected politicians. They are viewed as a laughing stock, or in more extreme cases, as malicious figures who pose a threat Russia.
This messaging goes beyond pundits on political talk shows, also coming from senior Kremlin officials.
“The world is on the verge of catastrophe because of the Biden administration,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a Sunday evening talk show. She blamed the US for starting the war in Ukraine and said the US should be sanctioned for providing Ukraine with military aid.
Scarr said that these messages often begin as TV propaganda and then are later amplified by officials.
“What we’re seeing is that foreign policy is not determined by the Russian foreign ministry — it comes from the Kremlin,” he said. “And the Russian foreign ministry, in many ways, is just there as almost an extension of Kremlin propaganda to denigrate rivals and states that the Kremlin sees as hostile.”
Sometimes Putin even chimes in himself. He’s commented about the US election on several occasions. In March, he said that the US electoral system is not democratic and has become “a laughing stock and shameful before the entire world.”
He went on to say that Russia has no preference for a specific US presidential candidate and will work with the candidate that voters elect.
However, other Russians outside of the Kremlin’s sphere of influence take a different view. Exiled Russian opposition politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky said in a video posted on social media, “America is a real democratic country, with age-old traditions and institutions.”
He praised the fact that the US, unlike Russia, has frequent transitions of power, suggesting that Putin has overstayed his welcome. He said he wants Russians to take notice that Putin also has limits.