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MOSCOW – November 4 in Russia is Unity Day, a state holiday full of official events that celebrate the country’s multi-ethnic composition. This year coincides with the dizzying vote count in a hotly contested US presidential election that has thrown American political divisions into sharp relief.
Russian state TV and government officials made the most of the tension surrounding the contest, using it to bring home a Kremlin narrative that describes US democracy as a deeply flawed, chaotic and potentially explosive process.
“We wish our American friends some of the same national unity that we are celebrating in Russia today,” a presenter of state news channel Rossia-24 joked in the morning, as results from various US states continued to arrive. and the outcome of the elections remained uncertain.
Four years ago, channels like Rossia-24 were releasing reports praising Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate who was committed to improving relations with Russia and was critical of the sanctions imposed for Moscow’s military interference in neighboring Ukraine. .
This year, with a longer than usual vote count and the prospect of judicial battles adding to the anxiety over an election already complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, the attention of pro-Kremlin media and public commentators was on another familiar theme to the Russian public: the uncertainty – expressed as chaos by some experts and presenters – that comes from US democracy.
Following the riots earlier this year that were partly sparked by anger over police killings of unarmed black Americans and businesses in some U.S. cities preparing for the possibility of election-related violence, the shows on Russian state TV seemed to accentuate the possibility that things might go out. control – in many cases he even seems to enjoy the idea.
“I don’t know who doesn’t like it. To me it’s wonderful!” Russian lawmaker Aleksei Zhuravlev said on the popular talk show 60 Minutes on November 3, citing real incidents of looting in the streets of the United States and imaginary violence as the video clips were played on a big screen behind him. “I love it!”
On November 1, a reporter for the Russian state-run First Channel passed the barred entrance of a department store in New York City. “The big question in Manhattan right now isn’t ‘Trump or Biden?'” He said. “It’s, ‘Will they start looting?'”
It’s election day in the United States, a headline in the Kremlin-friendly mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda asked, “Is an American Civil War likely after November 3?”
During Vladimir Putin’s more than two decades as president or prime minister, the Kremlin’s message to the Russians was that it restored political stability after a turbulent decade ushered in by the Soviet collapse of 1991. Comparisons with the United States, where the prospect realistic of the president The change of power takes place every four years, for years they have been a central theme for the television channels that strengthen Putin’s position in Russia.
That hasn’t changed this year, after Putin secured constitutional amendments that will allow him to seek two more six-year presidential terms after his current term in the Kremlin ends in 2024.
But there are two sides to the narrative. Critics of the Russian government and Kremlin opponents point to the uncertainties locked in the US system as a potential strength, not an inherent weakness. A popular joke says that one Russian tells another: “The elections in the United States are tomorrow, and their system is so flawed that they don’t even know who will win.”
When the results came following the close of polls in the United States, a Russian comedian caught the surprise effect of watching the counting process unfold – and thwarted it with a look at how future Russian elections could likely. unfold.
“USA: 20:00 Biden, 21:00 Trump, 22:00 Biden, 23:00 Trump, 12:00 Biden, 6:00 ???” said a post on Alexander Thorn’s Twitter account. “Russia: Putin 2000, Putin 2030”.
However, not all Russians were watching him closely, or not at all.
In 2016, Trump’s praise of Putin and his promises to improve ties with Russia made him a favorite for the Kremlin over Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state Putin accused of helping to stir up protests. anti-government in Moscow in 2011. Some Russians held elections night parties in his honor in the Russian capital to celebrate his unexpected victory.
But Trump’s efforts to warm ties with Russia were thwarted from the start, after US intelligence agencies announced their determination that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 election and amid concern over other Russian activities at the ‘abroad. And the picture was more blurred this time around – both for the Kremlin and for many ordinary citizens, polls suggest.
Analysts say the prospects for a substantial improvement in ties are slim under Trump or Biden, and a recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of Russians believe U.S. policies towards Russia won’t change regardless of who wins.
However, as the vote count continued on November 4, some politicians and pundits supporting Putin made it clear that they were shooting for Trump.
“There is no ‘best candidate’ for Russia in the United States,” wrote Aleksei Pushkov, a political analyst and frequent critic of the West, who is also a member of the upper house of parliament. Twitter.
But Biden, he said, had “shown anti-Russian reflexes more than once. His administration would have been ideologized and obsessed with” values ”. Trump has avoided conflict with Russia. Biden is more dangerous.”
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