Russia Sanctions a Who’s-Who of Trump Media Critics: Rachel Maddow, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Among the Banned
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The Russian Foreign Ministry has released a new batch of sanctions on individual Americans, naming exactly 500 people now subject to financial and travel restrictions including Joe Scarborough, Rachel Maddow, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Several prominent U.S. media figures were on the list – presumably only because they are vocal critics of former President Donald Trump.
The New York Times announced the fresh round of sanctions late Sunday. The paper said the new list is a “tit-for-tat retaliation for the latest curbs imposed by the United States,” and points out how Russia president Vladimir Putin appears to be “adopting perceived enemies of former President Donald J. Trump as his own.”
The 500 people also included Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who sued Trump for fraud; Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; and Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt.
“None of them has anything to do with Russia policy,” the Times wrote, and the only common thread seems to be vocal opposition to Trump. That isn’t to say that only Trump critics are on the list, which also includes Republican Senator J.D. Vance and other supporters.
But there would be no other reason to set travel and financial restrictions – which don’t mean much to someone with no plans to travel to or do business with Russia – for the likes of Seth Meyers, Brian Williams, Erin Burnett and Norm Eisen, all of whom made the list.
A compete translated version of the list, which the Russian Foreign Ministry filed on Friday, was published Monday by Mediaite.
