US presidential campaign generating 'ridiculous & dangerous' charges against Vladimir Putin
It is ridiculous, but not surprising, that Barack Obama tried to use Donald Trump’s interview on RT as a battering ram in his campaigning for Hillary Clinton, Daniel Wagner, managing director of Risk Cooperative told RT.
Barack Obama has slammed an interview that Trump gave to Larry King, which aired on RT last week. During the interaction, the Republican nominee shared his opinion of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Obama accused Trump of trying to “curry favor” with the Russian president, who he compared to Saddam Hussein.
RT: It’s not only US media that’s fired up over Trump’s appearance on RT. Barack Obama used it as a battering ram in campaigning for Hillary Clinton. What’s your take?
Daniel Wagner: Well, it did not have to be a battering ram. This was a fairly straightforward proposition. I saw the interview. I didn’t think there was anything terribly controversial about it. I really don’t understand why there has to be some sort of connotation that anything Russian is automatically bad, but, unfortunately, there are many people in America who would equate anything Russian with being bad just like they would equate anything with China to be bad. They don’t understand the world. They don’t understand that there are other media platforms out there, that RT is one of the largest in the world and that it reaches a very broad audience. So if I was Mr Trump, I certainly would want to appear on RT, and if I was Hillary Clinton I would also want to.
RT: It’s not the first time that the name of Vladimir Putin has been brought up in the US presidential campaign, and now, seemingly, it’s back very much in vogue. Why do you think that is?
DW: Well, it’s hard to say except that there are a lot of people who have never got out of the Cold War mentality and continue to believe that, you know, Mr. Putin is the bogeyman and everything he does again is bad, and anything that is done by other people is good. It’s not a black and white world that we’re living in. I refuse to understand why people tend to typecast individuals in countries in that way. It, really, just does not make any sense to me.
RT: Do you find it appropriate for President Obama to make such remarks about Vladimir Putin? Is it that it’s the end of his term fast approaching that allows him, perhaps, to choose his words more loosely than he would have, or is it something else?
DW: It’s election season. We know what that means in many places around the world. When you have so many accusations and loose words flying through this unprecedented election campaign it’s really not surprising that Mr Putin and any number of other individuals, countries, topics would be thrown around very loosely. It’s a dangerous thing to do. It doesn’t make any sense. It certainly doesn’t help set a useful stage for later on after the election is over and the new president is installed. What do you do then? Do you take back everything that was said that might have been inflammatory or caused some sort of a problem? If you ask me, it just doesn’t make any sense. I really don’t know why the election has to be cast in such a wider framework.
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RT: Well-known US neurologist Bennet Omalu has claimed that Hillary Clinton may have been poisoned by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and even suggested that Clinton should take a toxicology test. It’s not the plot of the 70s spy movie, is it?
DW: It certainly sounds like one. I find myself wondering just how ridiculous can this campaign get. How is it that any person can almost say anything and the media immediately jumps on it and before you know it’s front page news. Does it make any sense to you? It doesn’t make any sense to me.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
