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Media Stoop to ‘Russian Assistance’ to Explain Sanders’ Rise Alan MacLeod ([link removed])


[link removed] over three years, Russia has been an issue of great concern, if not panic, in our media. Back in 2018, FAIR (7/27/18 ([link removed]) ) warned that if Bernie Sanders or another progressive movement picked up steam, corporate media would claim that “any challenge to the establishment is likely a Kremlin-funded astroturf effort.” For establishment Democrats, we wrote:

Russiagate allows them to ignore calls for change and not scrutinize why they lost to the most unpopular presidential candidate in history. Since Russia hacked the election, there is no need for introspection, and certainly no need to accommodate the Sanders wing or to engage with progressive challenges from activists on the left, who are Putin’s puppets anyway.

Despite being perhaps the major politics story of the last three years, Russiagate ultimately ended in a flop for those most committed to it. Robert Mueller’s extensive report found no collusion, and Donald Trump was not removed from office. Contrary to media narratives ([link removed]) , the walls were not closing in on Trump, and he stands a strong chance of re-election in November.

Fortunately, there is a surging frontrunner candidate, overwhelmingly popular ([link removed]) among Democratic voters and outpacing rivals ([link removed]) among independents, who beats the president in 68 of 73 national head-to-head polls ([link removed]) . Recently leaked audio ([link removed]) of a private Trump conversation from 2018 also showed that Sanders was the one running mate Trump feared Hillary Clinton would choose in the 2016 election—“the only one I didn't want her to pick.”

But for Democratic insiders, his early successes in the race for the nomination are an ominous sign that society is falling apart. Commenting on Sanders’ blowout in Nevada, former Clinton strategist James Carville told MSNBC (2/22/20 ([link removed]) ): “The happiest person right now? It’s about 1.15 a.m. Moscow time. This thing is going very well for Vladimir Putin.” Host Nicole Wallace backed him up: “That’s absolutely right,” she replied. Why is Putin happy? Obama’s White House Communications Director, Dan Pfeiffer, explained to MSNBC’s Meet the Press (2/23/20 ([link removed]) ) that the Russians “are trying to give Trump the opponent that Trump wants.”
WaPo: Bernie Sanders briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign

In the Washington Post (2/21/20 ([link removed]) ), unidentified "people" assserting that anonymous "US officials" are claiming that Russia is "attempting to help" the Bernie Sanders campaign in unspecified ways becomes, by the sixth paragraph, "the disclosure of Russian assistance to Sanders."

In a much-publicized article, the Washington Post (2/21/20 ([link removed]) ) also insinuated that Sanders was a Kremlin asset. It began by stating:

US officials have told Sen. Bernie Sanders that Russia is attempting to help his presidential campaign as part of an effort to interfere with the Democratic contest, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Trump and lawmakers on Capitol Hill also have been informed about the Russian assistance to the Vermont senator, those people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. It is not clear what form that Russian assistance has taken.

Thus, the Post published a third-hand account of unspecified “Russian assistance” based on what unidentifiable people in Washington heard from anonymous “intelligence” sources.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is the job of the covert security services to lie and manipulate. They are among the least trustworthy groups in the world, journalistically speaking, as part of their profession involves planting fake information. The only group less deserving of blind faith than spies would be anonymous spies. Yet the Post still decided to run with it, despite the fact media have recently been badly burned reporting fake news from faceless sources on Russia (FAIR.org, 12/3/18 ([link removed]) ). Furthermore, the “help” the Post refers to is highly ambiguous, telling us nothing of the impact of the supposed assistance. Jumping up and down “helps” create earthquakes, while blowing on a brick wall might help blow it down. But the actions are virtually inconsequential.

Despite this, the poorly sourced, evidence-free and quickly walked-back ([link removed]) report became the basis for endless stories linking Russia and Sanders. GQ (2/23/20 ([link removed]) ), for example, asked its readers “why exactly does Putin love Bernie?” Vox (2/22/20 ([link removed]) ) claimed that Sanders’ “chaos” was good for Russia and Trump. Meanwhile, the New York Times (2/24/20 ([link removed]) ), disregarding all polling data, stated categorically: “Sanders would be Trump’s weakest opponent.” And why does Russia want Trump re-elected? A slew of articles (e.g. Politico, 2/23/20 ([link removed]) ; USA Today, 2/23/20
([link removed]) ; New York Daily News, 2/23/20 ([link removed]) ) repeated the line that it is because “he has essentially ceded the Middle East to Russian interests”—something which must come as a surprise to the families of the thousands of civilians ([link removed]) killed by US airstrikes in the Middle East during the Trump administration.

Perhaps the real reason why the establishment opposes Sanders so much was accidentally revealed by national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who told ABC’s This Week (2/23/20 ([link removed]) ) (again citing anonymous spooks):

What I heard from the FBI is that Russia would like Bernie Sanders to win the Democrat nomination and would probably like him to be president, understandably, because he wants to spend money on social programs and probably would have to take it out of the military.

Thus, as Aaron Maté argues in the Nation (2/25/20 ([link removed]) ), “Moscow” is not a real place anymore, but a stand-in for a political agenda—more money for social programs, less money for war—that anonymous officials want to combat. As media have been unable to convince the electorate that a “moderate,” “pragmatic” candidate is best (FAIR.org, 7/17/19 ([link removed]) , 8/21/19 ([link removed]) ), perhaps they can outsource the task to a mythical Moscow.
NYT: Pro-Israel Democratic Super PAC to Air Attack Ads Against Bernie Sanders

Intervention in the election on behalf of a foreign country doesn't raise alarms when it's not an official enemy (New York Times, 1/28/20 ([link removed]) ).

At the same time that the political establishment is so concerned about potential, unproven interference, the open lobbying on behalf of another foreign government is a non-story. An AIPAC-linked Super PAC, Democratic Majority for Israel, has spent $1.4 million ([link removed]) on anti-Sanders attack ads in Iowa and Nevada. When this is reported on (e.g., New York Times, 1/28/20 ([link removed]) ), it is treated as business as usual—not as an occasion to hand-wring about foreign “meddling” ([link removed]) in US elections.

Corporate media are doing their best to smear the progressive candidate that threatens their own business interests. Sanders, unlike Bloomberg, will likely not be spending billions on TV ads, and his ideas on taxing large corporations directly threaten them and their advertisers. Yet despite attempts to marginalize, smear or equate him with Donald Trump (FAIR.org, 6/27/19 ([link removed]) , 7/26/19 ([link removed]) , 1/24/20 ([link removed]) ), he continues to rise in the polls. If media have had to revive Russia as a reason to explain Sanders’ victory, it means things are probably not going very well for them.



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