World-renowned linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and political activist, Noam Chomsky, recently spoke to Democracy Now . Media manipulation in the Trump era was the main topic of the conversation between Chomsky and the show’s host, Amy Goodman.
The mainstream media, Chomsky argued, keeps missing the real stories amid Russiagate hysteria. The most destructive of all Trump’s policies are his policies on climate change, which Chomsky considers to be an existential threat humanity has to face instead of ignoring. Yet, the media chooses to focus on Russian election meddling. According to the famous intellectual, in most of the world, Russian election meddling is “almost a joke.”
Whoever is interested in foreign interference in American democracy should look to other states instead of pointing fingers at Russia.
“First of all, if you’re interested in foreign interference in our elections, whatever the Russians may have done barely counts or weighs in the balance as compared with what another state does, openly, brazenly and with enormous support.”
The other state Chomsky is referring to went as far as having its Prime Minister address the U.S. Congress. The state Chomsky is referring to is one of America’s closest allies, Israel.
“Israeli intervention in U.S. elections vastly overwhelms anything the Russians may have done, I mean, even to the point where the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu, goes directly to Congress, without even informing the president, and speaks to Congress, with overwhelming applause, to try to undermine the president’s policies—what happened with Obama and Netanyahu in 2015.”
Unlike Putin, Netanyahu gave an address to the joint sessions of Congress in an attempt to reverse U.S. policy and that the famous social critic’s claims are merely just the tip of the iceberg, “a tiny bit of this overwhelming influence” Israel has on the United States.
Recently, as the Business Insider noted, one of the most influential intellectuals of our time called Donald Trump a “distraction,” meant to produce scandals, as the Republican party continues implementing “savage programs” meant to cater to the rich and powerful.
While Noam Chomsky may not be a proponent of what’s been dubbed Russiagate – although he does not deny vehemently Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election – most of the American public disagrees with him.
According to a recently published NBC – Wall Street Journal poll, 65 percent of American voters believe the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, and 41 percent think the interference affected the outcome of the election. Furthermore, 30 percent believe Hillary Clinton would have won if not for the Russian meddling.
As NBC News noted, 49 percent of Democrats view special counsel Robert Mueller positively. However, 46 percent of all voters believe Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling should continue.