The Gist Garrett Graff: “Russia Sought Division More Than Victory”
4 snips
Sep 16, 2025 
Garrett Graff, host of the Long Shadow podcast and an insightful historian, dives into the intricacies of Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. He emphasizes that the goal was to foster division in U.S. democracy, targeting different candidates to create chaos. The discussion touches on the overlap of events like the Access Hollywood tape, political extremism, and the role of misinformation in shaping public perception. Graff critiques shifting definitions of the 'far left' and warns about vulnerabilities in U.S. infrastructure.
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Undermining Trust Was The Goal
- Russia aimed to undermine trust in U.S. democracy rather than just elect a particular candidate.
- Weakening America globally was more valuable to Putin than who occupied the White House.
Playbook For Delegitimizing Elections
- The 2016 playbook prioritized sowing doubt about electoral legitimacy over a single-candidate victory.
- Roger Stone's early 'stop the steal' idea shows the tactic works both ways and resurfaces later.
Warning Was Overshadowed By Media Events
- The US intelligence community issued a rare pre-election warning about Russian meddling the same morning as the Access Hollywood tape.
- That official warning was quickly drowned out by media focus on the tape and email releases.
