Mud-slinging is expected in the race to the White House, but Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton seems to be targeting Donald Trump simply because he wants friendly ties with Russia – a tactic reminiscent of McCarthy's communist 'witch hunt' of the 1950s.
In a new online ad, Clinton takes aim at Trump by replaying his previous remarks on Russia. Such statements include calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “strong leader.”
The video goes on to imply dodgy ties between Trump and Putin.
“We don't know why Trump praises Putin...We don't know why Putin praises Trump...We don't know why they share foreign policies...We don't know why Trump's top advisers have ties to Putin...We don't know why Russia is trying to influence this election...or why Donald is inviting them to...We don't know how much Trump has invested in Russia...or how much they've invested in him...We don't know what's going on here, and Donald won't tell us...We'll let you guess,” the video states.
The video has even led mainstream media to speculate about what exactly Clinton is trying to imply with the ad. And as the Washington Post noted, there is no evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign has a direct connection to the Kremlin – despite Clinton's insinuation.
It comes after Clinton, along with her campaign manager, alleged that Russians “stole and released” DNC emails which showed a bias against Bernie Sanders within the Democratic elite. No actual evidence of that exists, either.
“Russian intelligence services, which are part of the Russian government, which is under the firm control of Vladimir Putin, hacked into the DNC and we know that they arranged for a lot of those emails to be released...,” Clinton told Fox News.
But the Clinton camp's accusations of politicians being tied to the Kremlin don't end with Donald Trump. Green Party candidate Jill Stein received the same treatment – but the only “evidence” to back those claims was that she appeared on RT on numerous occasions, and was invited to the channel's anniversary party in Moscow, an event that was also attended by Putin.
Clinton's tactics are recalling memories of the Cold War, when US Senator Joseph McCarthy launched a witch hunt against anyone who could even possibly be connected to communism. The tactic led to many Americans being unfairly accused of disloyalty and pro-communist activity.
In fact, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi – who spent decades fighting communism – told RT that McCarthy would be “in admiration” of Clinton's strategy if he were alive today.
During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union “did the same thing we're seeing right now, which is essentially what we would call now 'false narratives' – to create stories that people will be inclined to believe, but essentially are not true. So we see a lot of that happening. You see it happening when [the Clinton campaign] is accusing Russia of interfering in [US] politics, when they are accusing Donald Trump and Jill Stein of being too friendly to Russian leaders and to the Russian state...,” Giraldi said.
Meanwhile, retired US Army Major General Paul E. Vallely told RT that the tactics being used by Clinton stem from “desperation.”
“...Why they're blaming Russia when there's no proof, I have no idea. I think it's desperation on the side of Hillary Clinton and her campaign,” he said, adding that the accusation of Stein being a Russian agent is “absolutely ridiculous.”