Georgian Parliament Speaker says labeling critics as “pro-Russian” ‘deep state’ propaganda tactics

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday claimed that the labeling of individuals as “pro-Russian” and concepts as “Russian” was a coordinated propaganda effort managed from a single centre, which the US Government itself refers to as the deep state.

Papuashvili's remarks follow recent statements by Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence, who alleged that crimes against Donald Trump were orchestrated by the deep state and called for the punishment of Barack Obama and other individuals involved in the 2016 election interference allegations.

The Speaker highlighted that what was often presented as partisan or NGO-driven messaging was, in fact, a coordinated network of propagandists and “useful idiots” funded and directed from a single source.

“The exposure of the ‘pro-Russian’ and ‘Russian interference’ conspiracy of the century by the new US administration, in its significance and scale, is perhaps comparable only to the exposure of the use of organisations like USAID, NED, Voice of America, and Radio Free Europe to destabilise other countries”, the Speaker said.

He further elaborated that the Head of US National Intelligence had meticulously deciphered how the “witch hunt” using the “Russian” conspiracy was planned and executed.

“It has been confirmed that labeling those you dislike as 'pro-Russian' and what you dislike as 'Russian', and parasiticising on this, is a propaganda line managed from a single centre, which the US Government calls the deep state, a term the German Ambassador [to Georgia] found unmentionable”, he continued.

Papuashvili also referenced an interview with the then-President Salome Zourabichvili, who claimed both Georgian Dream’s victory and Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory had been results of Russian interference, despite admitting she had no evidence to support these claims.

He concluded by stating that the deep state was a shared enemy of both the US and Georgia, and that its propaganda tools and objectives had now been fully exposed.

“The discrediting campaign built on terms like ‘Russian’, ‘pro-Russian’ has collapsed. The public must now observe how the deep state’s hired propagandists and useful idiots expose themselves. This is an important step toward victory”, Papuashvili concluded.