LETTER FROM MOSCOW
Trump
fever grips Russia
Watching
the US elections in Moscow.
By OLGA
ZEVELEVA 11/15/16, 5:19 AM CET
MOSCOW — As exit
polls from the American presidential elections rolled in, I was
making my way from London to a snow-covered Moscow to visit my
grandmother. What I saw when I got there surprised me: Russia was
gripped by election fever. The U.S. was entering a new era, and
Moscow wanted to go along for the ride.
For three days I
watched as state television covered the intricacies of the U.S.
election as if the rest of the world was on hold. I talked to
students who could not concentrate on anything but Donald Trump.
Professors told me it had become impossible to teach their classes.
Family members, not usually so opinionated, suddenly started using
words like “racism” and “sexism.”
I traveled across
the city and walked its streets for days: There were no Trump-free
zones. In the tram, strangers chatted to one another about the number
of electoral college votes in Ohio versus California. People yelled
into their cell phones at the supermarket, relaying results in North
Carolina and Florida. On the street, I caught snatches of
conversation between two older women walking arm in arm, talking
about “white America” and the “racial divide” on their
evening stroll.
One block further
south, a woman carrying grocery bags told her daughter how happy she
was that “the Madam” did not get elected since she had “said
such harsh things about Russia, her presidency would have been
terrible for us.” A dog-walker chimed in, “What an interesting
conversation you’re having, you’ve made such good points, thank
you very much, I agree completely!”
Despite state
television’s warnings that voter fraud threatened to hand Hillary
Clinton the election, everyone now appeared to have a high degree of
faith in the American electoral system.
A usually cold,
reserved, individualistic Moscow had turned into a buzzing village,
bound together by common rumors and concerns.
A man working for
the hotline of a member of the Moscow City Council wrote in a
Facebook post that he had received calls from people in his district
congratulating him and each other on the Trump win. He hadn’t seen
anything near this level of enthusiasm after Russia’s parliamentary
elections in September. “Apparently this is a more fateful moment
for residents of this city district,” he mused.
While some did seem
thrilled at the prospect of a Trump presidency — mostly because
they are hopeful that sanctions will finally be lifted — the
overarching mood was not so much joy, it was surprise and curiosity.
And most of all: excitement.
Despite state
television’s warnings that voter fraud threatened to hand Hillary
Clinton the election, everyone now appeared to have a high degree of
faith in the American electoral system: People all agreed that Trump
won the electoral college votes and came into office after free and
fair elections.
When it seemed
Clinton would win, the editor of Russia Today tweeted “Democracy
RIP” – but then quickly rescinded her comment when it became
apparent Trump had come out on top. Russian state TV similarly
switched gears, churning out a narrative of American working classes
flooding the polling stations and finally taking back their country.
Trump’s win was
proof that American propaganda had failed to fool the electorate.
“This is real
working America – people who work with their hands and produce real
things, not people who work at universities or people who work in
finance,” said the news anchor. “These aren’t immigrants,
they’re locals who have suffered at the hands of American elites
for years.”
Trump’s win was
proof that American propaganda had failed to fool the electorate, one
woman told me: “The U.S. media was all in favor of Hillary, and
still the people chose Trump. Americans really showed everyone what
they’re made of.”
State TV channels
eagerly explained that Americans had voted for Trump “because they
were tired of the anti-Russian attitudes of Clinton and the
establishment.”
And that was just
the start. On day two, state media was afire with claims that America
was on the brink of civil war, with dramatic footage of people
burning the American flag and marching towards the White House.
“Do you think
they’ll even let Trump become president? I think it’s unclear,”
said my grandma, completely taken with the whole spectacle.
“Everyone expected
that Republicans would be burning flags the day after the election,
but it turned out to be the Democrats,” the news anchor commented.
Read: “The news producer had planned to show this footage of a
polarized America after a Democratic win, but we’ll work with what
we got.”
On day three, the
news producers recovered a little and found a way to fill the
propaganda vacuum after the initial “rigged election” story fell
through. The news latched onto the awful Republicans who surround
Trump, and while he himself is, of course, brilliant and friendly and
means well, he may not be able to push through his sound Russia
policies because the “institutions” and “the party” would be
sure to block him. Russia had to remain cautious of the evil elites
that surround a benign Trump.
Beyond their initial
surprise and curiosity, Russians latched onto the election as a
spectacle. Students compared it to the popular Netflix show “House
of Cards,” with its portrayal of American politics as full of
debauchery and betrayal. As the British political scientist Sam
Greene pointed out in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, the Trump
phenomenon is symptomatic of a transition toward “politics as
circus.” No one believes that politics is about society anymore.
Perhaps the most
surprising aspect of Russia’s election fever is that racism,
sexism, sexual assault and inequality suddenly entered everyday
discussions. Most people still don’t use these words in Russia.
Talking about Trump and the controversies surrounding him, many
conceded that he seems to be a “mean guy.”
Some students
expressed solidarity with “women and Muslims in America,” or
became upset about what the election results would mean for women in
America and around the world. Some of my family members were
concerned that mostly white Americans had voted for Trump and
consequences this may have. Americans elected a president known for
anti-immigrant, sexist, racist attitudes and, as a result Russians,
are finally starting to debate these topics seriously.
Deprived of a
meaningful electoral process at home, Russians claimed a stake in
America’s decision. Indeed, many in the country seem to believe
that American voters have more control over what happens to them than
they do.
Olga Zeveleva is a
PhD student in sociology at the University of Cambridge.
Authors:
Olga Zeveleva
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