Russian State TV Host Says Donald Trump Pushing US to 'Civil War'

Russian-state television host Ruslan Ostashko recently warned that former President Donald Trump is pushing the United States to a "civil war."

Amid a strongly-divided nation, Trump was shot at a campaign rally last Saturday by a would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullet struck Trump's right ear and despite the injury, which requires him to wear a bandage for several days, he is OK, according to his doctor. However, one rally attendee, 50-year-old former firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting and two more were injured. Crooks was killed by U.S. Secret Service counter-snipers.

Following the shooting, Trump, who is the GOP presidential nominee as of Monday, and President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, called for unity. Meanwhile, at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee this past week, Ohio Senator JD Vance was chosen as Trump's running mate.

Ekaterina Moore, a Russian-American political commentator based in Washington, D.C., criticized the decision to pick a candidate like Vance instead of a more moderate Republican while appearing on Ostashko and host Olesya Loseva's program.

Vance "won't attract neutral voters to Donald Trump. This is quite a negative development," Moore said, according to an English translation by Russian Media Monitor, a Russian propaganda watchdog group created by journalist Julia Davis.

"This leads to deep divisions in American society and creates preconditions for a civil war," Ostashko said later in the show. "As you said, Trump is unpredictable. He is unpredictable, but he purposely did it. He is purposely dividing American society, pushing it toward a civil war."

Earlier in the program, Moore explained that "there was a clear goal to attract the centrist electorate of the Republican Party and voters leaning toward the Republican Party to Donald Trump."

"But Vance is a radical and centrist Republicans don't like that," Ostashko responded, which Moore confirmed was correct.

Steven Cheung, communications director for Trump's campaign, told Newsweek via email on Sunday morning, "Why is Newsweek promoting what happens on Russian state TV?"

Newsweek has also reached out to Vance's office via email for comment.

In May 2023, Vance was among nearly 50 members of Congress added to a long list of lawmakers banned from entering Russia in retaliation for U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian government via online form for comment on Sunday afternoon.

During Vance's RNC speech on Wednesday, he preached for a united nation: "I pledge to every American, no matter your party, I will give everything I have. To serve you and to make this country a place where every dream you have for yourself, your family and your country will be possible once again."

Vance, a Trump critic turned fierce ally, is fairly new to Congress. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022. He opposes abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, and has a tough anti-immigration stance.

It's been over two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Biden being a staunch ally to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Meanwhile, some Republicans believe the U.S. has spent too much money on the foreign war. As of June, the U.S. has committed over $51.9 billion in security assistance to the Eastern European nation.

Meanwhile, Dave Chase, the campaign manager for former Democratic Representative Tim Ryan when he ran against Vance in the 2022 Senate race, told Politico in an article published on Friday, "I think in many ways, [Vance's] a good pick for Trump. I think JD Vance has proven himself to be an effective salesman, like he sold the book to mostly a liberal audience that said one thing, and then he ran for the Republican primary in Ohio and said the total opposite."

Vance's Hillbilly Elegy is a memoir published in 2016 about the values associated with Appalachian life and its socioeconomic problems.

"I think he is a messenger who if left untouched can be an envoy to the more moderate parts of the Republican Party who are probably pretty uncomfortable with Trump," Chase added.

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