Ep. 5197 – Peter Van Buren on Russiagate II and the Coronavirus Panic – 2/28/2020

Scott talks to Peter Van Buren about the resurgence of the narrative that Russia is interfering in American elections, this time in the form of apparent support both for Trump’s reelection and for Bernie Sanders to get the Democratic nomination. Van Buren notes that fortunately voters don’t seem to be buying it this time around—both Trump and Sanders’ approval ratings improved in the days following the stories about supposed Russian interference. But he warns that we should always be wary of deep state interference in electoral politics, since they do have tremendous power to disrupt things behind the scenes. He also gives his thoughts on the coronavirus, and its effect on the global economy in particular, which he says is mostly due to unfounded and irrational fear, but could be the spark that lights the fuse on the coming recession.

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

Check out the interview page here: https://libertarianinstitute.org/scotthortonshow/2-28-20-peter-van-buren-on-russiagate-ii-and-the-coronavirus-panic/

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