An intelligence assessment released Wednesday about the 2020 presidential election concluded Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin favored then-President Donald Trump because former Vice President Joe Biden was the “American exceptionalism” candidate.
From the National Intelligence Council report, titled, “Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Federal Elections“:
Russian officials and state media frequently attacked President Biden for his leading role in the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy and his support for the anti-Putin opposition in Russia, suggesting the Kremlin views him as part of a reflexively anti-Russia US foreign policy establishment. Putin probably also considers President Biden more apt to echo the idea of American “exceptionalism,” which he and other Kremlin leaders have often publicly criticized as problematic and dangerous.
Throughout his presidency, Trump employed an “America First” doctrine.
“From this day forward, a new vision will govern. It’s going to be only America first, America first,” Trump said at his inauguration.
In December, Robert Lewis argued in Asia Times:
With Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election, Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine will be jettisoned, and Biden will seek to return the US to pre-Trumpian norms. …
For US allies who felt ignored, castigated or simply befuddled by Trump, a Biden administration will offer the comforting prospect of once again working with familiar faces in the collegial club of global elites.
It is not clear what intelligence was analyzed to conclude Biden was the more “American exceptionalism” candidate of the two.
The report, declassified by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on March 15, concluded Russia wanted Trump to get re-elected. Meanwhile, it claimed Iran “intended to undercut” Trump, “though without directly promoting his rivals”. It asserted China did not play an influential role in the election.
The report noted Lebanese Hezbollah, Cuba, and Venezuela opposed Trump’s re-election and “took some steps to influence the election.”
Read the full assessment here:
ICA Declass 16MAR21 by Kristina Wong
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Parler.