Russian Media Lambasts Trump On National TV, Suggests He’s A Fascist

A Russian media figure has lambasted former U.S. President Donald Trump on national TV, suggesting he is a “fascist” in a direct address to Americans.

In a guest essay published in The New York Times on May 19, Yale University professor and historian Timothy Snyder wrote that Russia is fascist and likened the invasion of Ukraine to a war waged by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1941.

“He planned to replace Soviet rule with his own and claim Ukraine’s fertile agricultural soil. The Soviet Union would be starved, and Germany would become an empire,” Snyder wrote. “The similarities to Mr. Putin’s war are striking. The Kremlin defines Ukraine as an artificial state, whose Jewish president proves it cannot be real. After the elimination of a small elite, the thinking goes, the inchoate masses would happily accept Russian dominion.”

Titled “We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist,” the piece drew the ire of the Kremlin’s state media, including state TV show host Vladimir Solovyov who lambasted Trump as part of an attempt to refute the essay.

“Listen, you bastards,” Solovyov said in a direct address to Americans. “Let me tell you a secret: first of all, your signs are idiotic in their nature. Secondly, looking at your listed indications, how are they any different from the election campaign of Donald Trump? Down to his slogan, ‘Make America Great Again.’”

Solovyov also listed various signs that pointed to Trump’s “fascism,” including discussing his “former greatness” and promises to “make America great again.”

In addition, the Russian TV show host called Snyder a “liar” who understood nothing about the war in Ukraine after the historian claimed Russians called Ukrainians Nazis because they refuse to recognize themselves as Russian people.

Despite the host’s assertions, several Russian pundits have claimed that Ukrainians are just Russians who refuse to admit it. Sergey Mikheyev, a political scientist, last month appeared on Solovyov’s TV show, where he falsely claimed that the people in Ukraine did not speak the Ukrainian language. He also added that the language does not exist.

Last week, Mikheyev again appeared on Solovyov’s TV show, where he urged Russia to grab what they can in the war and find the solution to “the Ukrainian question.”

Local women walk along a street while Ukrainian servicemen patrol an area, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Kurakhove, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 20, 2022. Picture taken May 20, 2022. Photo: Reuters / STRINGER