Avlon: Russia Didn’t Invade Under Trump Like They Did Under Biden Because ‘They Were Waiting for’ Second Trump Term

LOWRY: “I just — I know, with the idea that that we wouldn’t be divided vote for Russians trying to meddle in our society, we’ve been divided the entirety of our history, we’ve been divided since the revolution, divided during the revolution. It’s why a huge amount of people — “
MAHER: “Wait, wait, okay, but that’s a strawman argument. No one’s arguing that we’re not divided. This is a different kind. But to your point about duping, okay, let me read this to you. This is interesting, the Justice Department charged two Russian media executives, they call them, they funneled money to this place called Tenet media, I never heard of them, they’re in Tennessee.
But they — 2,000 videos they put up, 16 million views on YouTube. Okay, so a lot of people saw this stuff. Our friend Dave Rubin has been on this show, he is a friend of mine, he was one of them who got money, okay? He says he was duped. Maybe he was. He said he asked for more information about where the money was coming from, and the Russians made up a fictional Belgian banker committed to free speech. I guess they didn’t look further than that.
(Laughter)
But my question is, to the people who are duped, the fact that what the Russians want you to put out is, to begin with, so close to Republican talking points, that’s not a red flag to you? That’s not a problem to begin with, that you can’t read the difference between the two?”
(Applause)
AVLON: “Honestly, as someone who’s been a critic of Trump, but run a longtime conservative publication, how do you explain that that sort of creepy confluence between the Russian talking points and what passes for Trump talking points?”
LOWRY: “Yeah. So, I’m a Ukraine hawk. I don’t like what any of these guys said about Ukraine. But unfortunately, they’re saying it before they got Russian money. And if you read the indictment, there is a huge effort to dupe them. Maybe they shouldn’t have been so credulous, but they create this fake character and the whole thing. So it’s a little bit like what PJ O’Rourke used to say about politicians. The really disturbing thing about politicians is they’re not in it for the money. Same thing about these guys.”
(Laughter)
MAHER: “It’s so true. They are in other countries, not this one.”
AVLON: “But the whole act of defense around Vladimir Putin, you used to be Republican, you stood up to Russian aggression, and then all of a sudden Donald Trump came on and people said, ‘Well, not so much.’ And all of a sudden you see these talking points making their way into Congress. You know, they kind of — they jumped the shark on this stuff, and this is just evidence, right, when Russians were like, ‘Tucker Carlson’s visit to the supermarket, that’s a little bit too much, even for us,’ you know?”
LOWRY: “I reject all the stuff. I argued against it all the time. But the fact is, Donald Trump, he gave lethal arms in the Ukrainians — “
AVLON: “Oh, stop?”
LOWRY: “Why stop? Vladimir Putin did not invade Ukraine on Donald Trump’s watch. Our enemies feared us under Donald Trump.”
AVLON: “No, no, they thought he was a patsy, they could do whatever they wanted. Donald Trump — “
LOWRY: “Why didn’t they take Ukraine then?”
AVLON: “Because they were waiting for a second term.”
LOWRY: “If they had a patsy in the White House.”
AVLON: “Oh, please, look, what has happened in this administration, NATO has expanded under this administration, the international community has rallied to stop Russian aggression, and Republicans have been protesting that and criticized the Ukraine — “
LOWRY: “Some Republicans.”
AVLON: “Too many. Too many. Six months, six months Ukrainians twisted in the wind while Republicans held up aid for Ukraine.”
LOWRY: “The new aid package passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses, all right?”
AVLON: “Eventually.”
LOWRY: “And the idea that the people we have now in charge — “
AVLON: “Donald Trump has given a green light to Putin — “
LOWRY “Putin took Crimea under Obama, and then they invaded Ukraine under Biden.”
AVLON: “Dick Cheney just endorsed Kamala Harris for president, in part because — “
MAHER: “This is why it’s difficult to, you know, be for Donald Trump.”
AVLON: “Yeah!”