Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters at a joint press conference with President Donald Trump today that his government did not interfere with the 2016 general election in the United States and name-dropped billionaire philanthropist George Soros during his denial, thrilling right-wing conspiracy theorists.
When a reporter asked Trump whether he believed Putin, who denies attempting to interfere in American elections, or American intelligence agencies who unanimously agree that Russia did attempt to interfere, Trump responded, in a roundabout way, that he was more inclined to believe Putin.
Putin added to Trump’s response, saying, “The Concord company is being accused of interference but this company does not institute the Russia state, does not represent the Russia state, and I brought several examples before. You have a lot of individuals in the United States—take George Soros, for instance, with multi-billion capitals—but it doesn’t make his position, his posture, the posture of the United States.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones took to Infowars shortly after the press conference to excitedly present a video of Putin’s statement:
Anna Khait, a former contestant on the CBS show Survivor who has been welcomed into self-dubbed “New Right” internet circles after she declared herself to be “red pilled,” expressed joy that Putin mentioned Soros. Khait is a conspiracy theorist who affiliates with unabashed conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin and shares some of Crokin’s same beliefs about the alleged existence of a global satanic pedophile ring.
Putin called out George Soros. Love it. #TrumpPutinSummit
— Anna ?? (@Annakhait) July 16, 2018
One America News correspondent of “Pizzagate” fame Jack Posobiec declared it was time to investigate George Soros.
Raise your hand if you agree it’s time to investigate George Soros
— Jack Posobiec?? (@JackPosobiec) July 16, 2018
Anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer fawned over Putin’s mention of Soros, writing that she was “seriously impressed by his Chutzpah.”
Omg #Putin just dropped George Soros’s name while asking the international press if they truly believe the United States is a democracy.
Wow. I’m seriously impressed by his Chutzpah.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 16, 2018
I am so excited.
Putin literally called out George Soros while standing next to @realDonaldTrump in #Helsinki when asked about interference in Democratic elections!
This is HUGE. https://t.co/mNgkvVfVJe
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 16, 2018
In response to Yahoo News reporter Alexander Nazaryan’s remark that by mentioning Soros during the press conference, Putin had effectively satiated an itch among “the conspiratorial, anti-Semitic fringe in the United States,” Loomer seemed to prove his point by rehashing the debunked conspiracy theory that Soros collaborated with Nazis.
Except Conservative Jews like myself hate George Soros.
Soros himself is the anti-Semite. He betrayed the Jewish people when he assisted the Nazis in rounding up Jews during the Holocaust. HE IS A SELF ADMITTED NAZI COLLABORATOR!
GO READ A HISTORY BOOK AND GET EDUCATED! https://t.co/SqPLM0dEgk
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 16, 2018
Jim Hoft, the owner of the right-wing blog Gateway Pundit, responded with a declarative, “OMG!”
HOLY CRAP...... RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN JUST ATTACKED GEORGE SOROS! OMG! Liberals are going to RIOT tonight!
— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) July 16, 2018
The moderation team running the Twitter account for “The Donald,” which is Reddit’s most popular pro-Trump forum board, wrote that Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Convention, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Soros had been “BTFO”—an acronym that stands for the phrase “blown the fuck out”—during the press conference.
BTFO status so far:
Hillary
Dnc
Mueller
Soros— /r/The_Donald (@thedonaldreddit) July 16, 2018
On 4chan, numerous threads were created celebrating the fact that Putin had mentioned Soros.
Joshua Caplan at Breitbart dedicated a standalone article on the site to Putin’s name-dropping.
Additionally, Putin’s remarks will almost certainly resonate with Religious Right groups like International Organization for the Family, which have worked with the likes of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán to “stop the evil machinations of liberal philanthropist George Soros around the world.”
