Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president with close ties to Vladimir Putin, has predicted that the assassination attempt on Donald Trump means the presumptive Republican nominee will win in November's presidential election.
Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia's security council, gave a verdict that is shared by many Russian media outlets—namely that the attempt on the former U.S. president's life had strengthened his presidential campaign.
Medvedev posted on X the iconic mug shot of Trump taken at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 24, 2023, the only police booking photograph of a U.S. president.
"He has certainly won. Only if he is not assassinated," was Medvedev's post in English next to the image.
Medvedev was head of state between 2008 and 2012 and since the start Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has used his Telegram platform to issue hawkish rhetoric against Kyiv and the West.
As of Monday, his X message had not been shared on his Telegram account on which the last post was made on July 11.
His sentiment about the assassination attempt at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, chimes with that expressed by Russian state media outlets, who had previously been open with their support for the Republican presumptive nominee.
Trump's alleged ties with Putin were widely scrutinized during the Republican's term in the White House. Russian state media has portrayed Trump, who has repeatedly criticized U.S. support for Ukraine, as the presidential contender who would better suit Russia should he return to the White House.
"The bullet that brought Donald Trump closer to the White House," was the headline in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, which reported that Trump's popularity "is likely to grow," that he has overtaken President Joe Biden in the polls and from now on, "may become completely out of reach."
Another mass circulation Russian newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, ran a story headlined, "They aimed at Trump, they hit Biden," which said that the chances of the ex-president returning to the White House "have increased dramatically."
"Such an assessment of the attempt on the life of the U.S. presidential candidate smacks of cynicism," the piece said, but in the U.S. this was a "harsh political reality" and that the incident would gain Trump "enormous capital" that will help him win in November.
The Russian government newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta also agreed that the attempt on Trump's life meant that Biden "has even less chance of being reelected."
On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow did not believe the U.S. administration was responsible for the assassination attempt but did accuse the Democrats of creating an atmosphere that "provoked what America is confronting today," echoing what some of Trump's Republican allies have said.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
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