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00:00An endorsement made in jest. Speaking as a guest at a forum in East Russia, Vladimir Putin candidly
00:06suggested that Kamala Harris was his preferred candidate for November's US presidential election.
00:12She has such an expressive and infectious laugh, it shows she's doing well. I mean, Trump, he's
00:19imposed more restrictions and sanctions on Russia than any president has ever imposed before. And
00:26if Mrs Harris is doing well, maybe she'll refrain from doing something like that.
00:33The comments were met with laughter by the audience, adding to the mocking theme of the
00:37remarks, a common trend whenever Putin has talked on social issues in the United States.
00:42The Russian president had earlier this year backed outgoing President Joe Biden over Trump,
00:47claiming he was more predictable. That's despite Putin previously authorizing influence operations
00:52to help Trump's election efforts in 2020 and helping his campaign in 2016 through
00:57hacking and covert social media. But Trump, for his part, said he was left feeling split
01:02over Putin's latest comments. I don't know exactly what to say about that. I don't know
01:06if I'm insulted or he did me a favor. The US National Security Council, meanwhile,
01:11called on Putin to stop talking about American elections and to stop interfering with them.
01:16But Putin's tongue-in-cheek words came at a chance time nonetheless. Just hours after the Biden
01:21administration took steps to counter ongoing Russian disinformation efforts. US authorities
01:26seized several Kremlin-run websites and charged two employees from state news network Russia Today,
01:32who they accused of carrying out a covert propaganda campaign to influence American voters.