What’s at stake for Russia’s Putin in the US election?
Al Jazeera
Trump’s first term showed that while a win for him could help Russia in Ukraine, it would bring its own challenges, too.
With a desktop computer by his side, the secretary of state of the southern US state of Georgia on Thursday told reporters that a video spreading on social media, purporting to show Haitians voting in the United States presidential election for Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris, was fake.
It was, according to Brad Raffensberger, the Georgia state official, likely “a production of Russian troll farms”.
As the long, drawn-out race to the White House finally edges towards its conclusion on November 5, with Harris and former President Donald Trump locked in a nail-biting contest, Russia has once again found itself embroiled in the election.
Like in 2016 and 2020, Moscow has again been accused by US officials of attempting to sway election results, with a recent federal indictment alleging that right-wing social media influencers have received talking points from Russian state-run media. These incidents amplify accusations that the Kremlin prefers Trump in the White House.
Yet, while a Trump win could help Russia, some analysts argue that Moscow’s calculations are more complex – and they point to the Republican nominee’s first term as president as evidence.
