The Kremlin and the GOP Had a Very Busy Weekend

Two rallies on the Mall in Washington, DC that turned out to be a bust and Hurricane Helene brings out the Kremlin propagandists while Donald Trump makes that hurricane all about himself for profit

If you’re relatively new to the issues related to Kremlin propaganda and how it’s affecting other countries (including the United States), I recommend reading some background posts I wrote that explains things in more detail along with links to other sites where you can read more to educate yourself.

Last weekend was a busy weekend for the Kremlin propagandists and their Republican allies. (To be honest they have been so cozy with each other for a while that you might as well consider them to be one and the same these days.)

First there were two back-to-back rallies that took place on the Mall in Washington, DC in the same location (near the Washington Monument). Both were organized by similar groups that are linked to the Kremlin. Saturday, September 28 was the Rage Against the War Machine and it was dedicated to get the US and NATO to stop supporting the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, disband NATO, global nuclear deescalation, abolish the Deep State, and pardon Julian Assange. On that last point, Assange was released from prison a few months ago. I don't know which nation should issue this pardon to Assange since more than one country was involved. Should it be Sweden, whose investigation of Assange on rape charges started his legal troubles? Should it be the UK, which imprisoned him? Should it be the US, which had a warrant out for his arrest? In any case, last I heard was that Assange was back in his native Australia so maybe these people need to let this issue of giving Assange a pardon rest and just be happy that he is now a free man.

Rage Against the War Machine had a speaker lineup but most of them aren't very well-known outside of their loyal followers (with many of them being bot accounts) on Twitter/X.

Perhaps it was the lack of star power that doomed that rally despite the fact that it was a very sunny day and the temperature even went up to 85 degrees. There were photos posted on Twitter/X that showed tens of people who showed up.

On Sunday, was Rescue the Republic, which was also held on the Mall in DC at the same location near the Washington Monument. Compared to that other rally, this one had star power (and I'm totally exaggerating about the “star power”) with people whose names were more well-known. There was Lara Logan, a once respectable reporter whom I view as more of a tragic figure in that she suffered a horrific sexual assault while she was reporting on the Arab Spring in Egypt, which toppled the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship. She hasn't been the same since then because she now spreads all kinds of far-right wing conspiracy theories and she has been praised by Russia. There was Russell Brand, whose once-promising Hollywood career went down the toilet with both promoting far-right conspiracy theories and being accused of rape by multiple women. There was former Rolling Stone columnist turned Kremlin sympathsizer Matt Taibbi. There was former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard who now supports Donald Trump. There was Jimmy Dore, a former comedian turned right-wing conspiracy theorist. But the big star (and I'm exaggerating on the “big star” part) was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the onetime independent presidential candidate who became a Trump supporter after he dropped out of the race. He's the same RFK Jr. who had admitted that a worm had eaten parts of his brain and he once had a misadventure with a dead bear cub.

Unlike Saturday's rally, this one had rainy weather and the temperature dropped into the low-to-mid 70s. But the relative star power (and I use that term very loosely) ensured a larger turnout than that other rally the day before.

But, judging from these photos it looked like it was better attended than that other rally the day before but it was still miniscule compared to other protests that I've been to over the years, such as the 2017 Women's March on Washington where you can read about my own experiences and see the photos that I took that day right here. Heck I think the rally that commemorated the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine that was held outside of the Lincoln Memorial earlier this year drew more people.

Dave Troy was at that second rally and he wrote a play-by-play coverage of that rally on Twitter/X that's definitely worth reading so you can get a glimpse into the mindset of these people.

While the two back-to-back rallies were happening in DC Hurricane Helene struck the South, with the western part of North Carolina especially hard hit. The White House has been closely monitoring the situation and the federal government has been trying to send over relief supplies. They have to be sent by air because many of the hardest places are rural and in many towns the only road or bridge into that particular town has been literally washed away. What's even more challenging is that there are currently broken communication lines due to the flooding. President Joe Biden has already approved requests for federal assistance to the seven states that have been the most impacted by this hurricane.

But, just like the earlier disaster of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, there are pro-Kremlin propagandists who are taking advantage of this latest disaster to score political points for their own ends. Most of this propaganda garbage can be found on Twitter/X. (I certainly didn't see anything like it on Substack Notes, Threads, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, or Spoutible.) It's yet another example of Elon Musk allowing Kremlin propaganda to flourish on his platform without doing anything to curb the misinformation. Then he wonders why advertisers and users are leaving in droves. It's because of garbage like this insinuating that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris aren't doing anything about the aftermath of the hurricane’s ravaged areas because they prefer to spend precious government funding arming Ukraine. (Despite the fact that President Biden has already authorized the funding to help those hurricane-affected areas.)

There are a few defenders pointing out the fact that there are state and federal officials who are trying to help the residents deal with the hurricane but the big challenge is that many of the roads and bridges have been washed away with the floods, which is especially bad for small rural towns.

There is speculation that the Kremlin and its paid Western sycophants are behind much of the “North Carolina residents can't get any relief for the hurricane because the US government has spent all of the money on Ukraine” bullshit and I'm not surprised at all.

There are times when it's obvious that the Kremlin is behind this, such as referring to the country as “the Ukraine” (which is what the USSR used to call Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union) instead of simply “Ukraine” (which is what the Ukrainians prefer).

But still the Kremlin propagandists continue their online trolling rampage while Twitter/X allows them to do this.

President Biden had even put out this tweet assuring the residents of the affected areas that the Biden-Harris Administration will be with them until the job is done.

Chef José Andrés, who has already set up a World Central Kitchen outpost in one of the affected areas to feed the local residents had invited one of the pro-Kremlin/pro-GOP propagandists to join his effort and help instead of selling stories that are not accurate.

Star Trek actor George Takkei brings up a very good point to those who say that the US shouldn't be helping Ukraine when they could be using the money to help hurricane victims instead: “Why are we giving trillions in breaks to the wealthy and to corporations when just a fraction of that could help *everyone* in need?”

Rex Chapman had the best retort to those Kremlin-backed propagandists: “If you’re spreading lies about Helene recovery efforts, then stop pretending you love this country.”

EXACTLY!!! Vladimir Putin wants to see a divided US so he can have an easier time conquering Ukraine and reintegrate it into some kind of a revived Soviet Union/Russian Empire hybrid. And his Western sycophants are doing the work for him.

And then there's Donald Trump. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have decided to stay out of the hurricane-ravaged zone for now so precious manpower can be used to rescue as many people as possible instead of having to provide security for them. In contrast Trump decided to make the hurricane all about himself and his reelection campaign by stopping by the hurricane-ravaged town of Valdosta, Georgia. He had a makeshift podium made especially for him from the bricks of a destroyed furniture store. As The Lincoln Project scathingly puts it: “This is all Trump knows—using the tragedy of others to prop himself up.”

The Meidas Touch had more details about Trump’s publicity stunt, which he did in an effort to aid his reelection campaign, and the reactions to what Trump did.

Former Republican Representative Joe Walsh who is now a frequent Trump critic wrote “People angry bcuz he makes the hurricane all about himself. He can't help himself. He really can't. He's incapable of caring about the victims of the hurricane. He's HUMANLY INCAPABLE of caring about anyone or anything but himself. Just one reason why he must never be president.”

But that's not all, folks! Donald Trump's campaign has just launched a GoFundMe campaign for the hurricane victims. This tweet urges people not to donate to it because it's questionable about how much of the money will actually reach the victims.

She's right about being suspicious about this fundraiser. Donald Trump and his three oldest children got into legal trouble for misusing donations from the Trump Foundation charity for their own ends that had nothing to do with helping the veterans whom the foundation said that it was raising funds for. Trump himself was ordered to pay a $2 million fine.

It's highly likely that any donations to that particular GoFundMe will go directly into Trump's pocket instead of helping the victim of Hurricane Helene. Besides if Trump is supposed to be a billionaire like he frequently claims to be, why isn't he donating some of the funds from his own bank account instead of expecting his loyal MAGA base to make the donations for him?

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