Russia Pursuing Gold Through Dubious Means, ‘Border Czar’ Accused of Gaslighting: Analysis

Paris Olympics: Kremlin Going for (Evil) Gold

As the Paris Olympics kick off, “the City of Lights is in Moscow’s crosshairs,” warn Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet at The Hill. Banned “from participating as a nation after its invasion of Ukraine,” Russia is resorting to misinformation campaigns and cyberwarfare as a “means of bringing home the gold.” Microsoft has cited “two notable Russian players,” “Storm-1679 and Storm-1099,” as pushing misinfo to “inculcate fear in the West that the Paris Olympics will turn violent.” France has established an “anti-terrorism perimeter” around huge swaths of the city. “To enter the zone, individuals must pre-register online, and will be subjected to background security checks,” but “even this hi-tech approach to security is not without risk.” “Putin has spent a significant amount of time and effort” trying to “wage war” on the Paris Olympics. “He is desperate to reap a return one way or the other.”

Media watch: ‘Border Czar’ Gaslighting

“There was something just more than a teensy bit Bolshevik about” Axios and other mainstream media outlets insisting Kamala Harris has never been “border czar,” “an informal title widely used” by many outlets, including Axios itself and The New York Times, writes The Free Press’ Peter Savodnik. “This piece of information that was once considered a fact — as in, a week ago —” was suddenly “deemed politically unhelpful,” so many outlets moved to make it “disappear.” “Missing from this entirely manufactured ‘confusion’ is the critical fact that the United States’ southern border has been a mess for most of Joe Biden’s presidency”; if it weren’t, “if this was not a winning GOP issue, Kamala Harris would be running on it right now.”

Analyst: Don’t Count Out Kamala

RealClearPolitics’ Sean Trende warns Republicans who think Vice President Kamala “is too liberal to win” in November: “Irrespective of her abilities as a politician, the 2024 presidential race has probably returned to a toss-up.” “Even if Harris has limitations on the stump, this isn’t your typical campaign.” The election is no longer “a pure referendum” on Biden’s presidency. Harris brings a “freshness” and “the shortened time frame could help her.” With Biden’s health no longer an issue, the narrative shifts “back toward Trump’s legal troubles.” And “calling Harris a ‘DEI pick,’ is a mistake because it plays directly into the hands of liberals poised to characterize attacks on Harris as racist and sexist.” This was always going to be a “close race, even with a diminished Biden running, and it will likely finish up even closer.”

Business desk: Why Tech’s Moving Right

It’s not just Elon Musk: In a “sea change,” it’s become “downright fashionable” for “technologists to reside on the political right,” observe Robert Bellafiore Jr. & Jon Askonas at City Journal. Why? Where Democrats treat new technologies “as a problem to be regulated away”; the Trump-Vance ticket has shown “openness.” “The Right has become the more dynamic political camp”; its plans “align” with an industry “eager to accomplish” things. Where the Left pushes DEI, a “right-wing tech industry” seeks “merit, excellence and intelligence (MEI).” While the Right hopes to “revive civilization,” the Left offers “apocalyptical climate visions.” Many in tech “see an easy choice” between the party of “pessimism” and the party of “verve.”

From the right: Fascists Storm DC

The “deeply disturbing” DC protests during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, observes Spiked’s Brendan O’Neill, “were riddled not only with the febrile Israelophobic bigotry we’ve come to expect from the supposedly progressive left, but also with open antisemitism,” including a large puppet of Bibi that “contained almost every anti-Jew trope” such as “blood-spattered horns” and a blood-stained mouth “as if this creature had freshly feasted on human flesh:’’ a caricature “right out of Medieval Europe.” Add “graffiti all over the Columbus statue in Union Square,” including “Hamas is coming” and the sign reading “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the ‘Final Solution’.” Fumes O’Neill: Media were “coy” in characterizing the demonstration as an “anti-war protest,” when it had all the markings of a “fascist rally.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board