Department Quote by Rachel Maddow
“Silencing the U.S. State Department, putting a friend of Vladimir Putin's in charge at the U.S. State Department, who stands by quietly while the State Department gets hollowed out, gets gutted, that's a dream for the Russian government, right? That's a dream for Putin.”
About This Quote
Source TV Show: The Rachel Maddow Show, 2023
A political commentator suggests that the U.S. State Department is being weakened to benefit Russia and Putin.
In simple terms: The State Department is being hollowed out for Russia's gain.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and resist foreign influence.
Themes
politics
power
foreign influence
Mood
skeptical
concerned
Type
analytical
critical
When to use this quote
- election monitoring
- policy analysis
- media critique
Key Concepts
geopolitics
institutional decay
propaganda
Questions to Reflect On
- How can democratic institutions safeguard against covert foreign agendas?
- What evidence supports this claim?
A Different Perspective
The claim may oversimplify complex bureaucratic changes.
![“Russia and [Vladimir] Putin's antipathy toward Hillary Clinton from her time as secretary of state, Russia's antipathy and loathing and fear of the U.S. State Department in general, those two - those things that we know about Russia they put a worrying cast over how successfully the new…” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/368/rachel-maddow-1240_administration_russia-and-vladimir-putin-s-antipathy-to_1533034.jpg)
![“We've got [evidence] of direct Russian government connections with the [Donald] Trump campaign, during the campaign, while the Russian government was interfering in our election to try to elect Trump.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/df3/rachel-maddow-1240_campaigns_we-ve-got-evidence-of-direct-russian-gov_2831539.jpg)
![“Russian government was in contact with multiple [Donald] Trump campaign sources while they were doing [attacks]. Russian nemesis in the American government, U.S. State Department, CIA, are not faring well since Donald Trump came to power.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/22d/rachel-maddow-1240_american-government_russian-government-was-in-contact-with-m_2820189.jpg)
![“News about the Russia connections to the [Donald Trump] administration and what we are continuing to learn about those connections. What's getting to be, I think, particularly unsettling is that simultaneously we are right now what's going on, I think, is that we are number one nailing down more…” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5a1/rachel-maddow-1240_administration_news-about-the-russia-connections-to-the_1913509.jpg)
![“[Dan fried] is the department's foremost Russia expert and he, too, is now leaving at a time when arguably the State Department needs it most, the State Department will not have the benefit of his insight going forward.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/767/rachel-maddow-1240_benefits_dan-fried-is-the-department-s-foremost-r_2500099.jpg)
![“[Dan Fried ]is a pillar of the U.S. State Department. He's part of its institutional memory. He has been in the room for basically every important negotiation, every standoff, every big development, particularly between the United States and Russia for decades.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a59/rachel-maddow-1240_bigs_dan-fried-is-a-pillar-of-the-u-s-state-d_1270135.jpg)
![“Given how we know Russia feels about the State Department, seeing what's happening to the State Department under this current [Donald Trump] administration is worrying and raises all sorts of questions about the connections between this current administration and Russia.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/46f/rachel-maddow-1240_administration_given-how-we-know-russia-feels-about-the_314356.jpg)
![“Ben Carson also denounced [Donald] Trump's ban all Muslims proposal saying we do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0d7/rachel-maddow-1240_bans_ben-carson-also-denounced-donald-trump-s_674.jpg)
![“Senator [Tom] Cotton has campaigned on wanting to kill Obamacare. He voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in January, but he now says, despite these marathon all-night sessions going on in the House, Republicans need to do better, they need to start over, they need to come up with…” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ba0/rachel-maddow-1240_affordable_senator-tom-cotton-has-campaigned-on-wan_18158.jpg)
![“[Tom Cotton] has been an absolute champion of the idea of getting rid of Obamacare, scrapping the Affordable Care Act.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a13/rachel-maddow-1240_absolutes_tom-cotton-has-been-an-absolute-champion_30724.jpg)
![“The more you push back on Donald [Trump], whether you're in the media or whether you are in the GOP establishment, the stronger his base of support comes.” quote by Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/334/rachel-maddow-1240_donald-trump_the-more-you-push-back-on-donald-trump-w_151346.jpg)
![“[States and the Federal government are] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch of the same government.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/401/thomas-jefferson-43_branches_states-and-the-federal-government-are-co_2619.jpg)
