Putin backs Harris for US president in mocking endorsement

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00:00An endorsement made in jest. Speaking as a guest at a forum in East Russia, Vladimir Putin candidly

00:06suggested that Kamala Harris was his preferred candidate for November's US presidential election.

00:12She has such an expressive and infectious laugh, it shows she's doing well. I mean, Trump, he's

00:19imposed more restrictions and sanctions on Russia than any president has ever imposed before. And

00:26if Mrs Harris is doing well, maybe she'll refrain from doing something like that.

00:33The comments were met with laughter by the audience, adding to the mocking theme of the

00:37remarks, a common trend whenever Putin has talked on social issues in the United States.

00:42The Russian president had earlier this year backed outgoing President Joe Biden over Trump,

00:47claiming he was more predictable. That's despite Putin previously authorizing influence operations

00:52to help Trump's election efforts in 2020 and helping his campaign in 2016 through

00:57hacking and covert social media. But Trump, for his part, said he was left feeling split

01:02over Putin's latest comments. I don't know exactly what to say about that. I don't know

01:06if I'm insulted or he did me a favor. The US National Security Council, meanwhile,

01:11called on Putin to stop talking about American elections and to stop interfering with them.

01:16But Putin's tongue-in-cheek words came at a chance time nonetheless. Just hours after the Biden

01:21administration took steps to counter ongoing Russian disinformation efforts. US authorities

01:26seized several Kremlin-run websites and charged two employees from state news network Russia Today,

01:32who they accused of carrying out a covert propaganda campaign to influence American voters.

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