After outspoken Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalny was murdered on Friday, Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart joined PBS NewsHour to claim that former President Donald Trump “emboldened” Putin and clearly looks forward to a Trump win in November.
Host Geoff Bennett began by reporting “President Biden said today there's “no doubt” that Vladimir Putin's government is behind the death of the outspoken dissident Alexei Navalny. I want to start with your reaction and your assessment of the implications.”
Capehart began by noting the timing, “Well, it was shocking, just because of who Navalny was, in terms of opposition, a well-known opponent of Vladimir Putin, but also because of its timing, to my mind.”
He noted that, “The Munich Security Conference is happening right now. It is the most important gathering of national security and foreign policy leaders from around the world. And the announcement of Navalny's death comes — came a few hours before Vice President Harris was supposed to speak, which was known.”
If Capehart had ended there, he would have been fine, but he kept going, “Mrs. Navalny was there to do a panel with Secretary — former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This comes after we have been listening to Donald Trump saying, if NATO doesn't pay its bills, well, then Russia can — quote — ‘do whatever the hell they want.’”
Vladimir Putin has been killing his opponents long before Trump came along, but Capehart continued, “And so this sends an — I think, an incredibly chilling message, chilling message to the world that Vladimir Putin, for lots of reasons, probably feels very, very emboldened. And when there's a major candidate running for president of the United States saying the things that he's saying, Putin probably feels confident that, maybe come November, he will have a friend in the White House and he can do whatever the hell he wants.”
Back in the real world, Putin said, just this week, that he prefers Biden because he is “more experienced, more predictable.” PBS viewers can decide for themselves just how seriously they take such claims, but somebody should have at least mentioned them.
Here is a transcript for the February 16 show:
PBS NewsHour
2/16/2024
7:42 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: President Biden said today there's “no doubt” that Vladimir Putin's government is behind the death of the outspoken dissident Alexei Navalny. I want to start with your reaction and your assessment of the implications.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, it was shocking, just because of who Navalny was, in terms of opposition, a well-known opponent of Vladimir Putin, but also because of its timing, to my mind.
The Munich Security Conference is happening right now. It is the most important gathering of national security and foreign policy leaders from around the world. And the announcement of Navalny's death comes — came a few hours before Vice President Harris was supposed to speak, which was known.
Mrs. Navalny was there to do a panel with Secretary — former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This comes after we have been listening to Donald Trump saying, if NATO doesn't pay its bills, well, then Russia can — quote — "do whatever the hell they want."
And so this sends an — I think, an incredibly chilling message, chilling message to the world that Vladimir Putin, for lots of reasons, probably feels very, very emboldened. And when there's a major candidate running for president of the United States saying the things that he's saying, Putin probably feels confident that, maybe come November, he will have a friend in the White House and he can do whatever the hell he wants.
