Anne Applebaum

So what Rudy was saying was that this is not a problem that has an instant or easy or short term solution. You know, once you are a leader whose power inside the country and who has all kinds of people dependent on you to continue fighting, it becomes very hard to stop for a lot of reasons. And so that's that was a warning.

I also have mixed views. It's a very, it's a complicated story. I mean, basically what happened is that one of the candidates whose name barely figured in polling and who wasn't seen much on mainstream television and wasn't taking part in this sort of the debates of the, of the leading candidates turned out to have been conducting a campaign on Tik TOK.

I also have mixed views. It's a very, it's a complicated story. I mean, basically what happened is that one of the candidates whose name barely figured in polling and who wasn't seen much on mainstream television and wasn't taking part in this sort of the debates of the, of the leading candidates turned out to have been conducting a campaign on Tik TOK.

I also have mixed views. It's a very, it's a complicated story. I mean, basically what happened is that one of the candidates whose name barely figured in polling and who wasn't seen much on mainstream television and wasn't taking part in this sort of the debates of the, of the leading candidates turned out to have been conducting a campaign on Tik TOK.

that somebody was funding, you know, I think it's more than a million dollars, which goes a long way on TikTok. And there were influencers being paid to support him. And there were, there was some kind of network of bots or accounts that were, were activated on his behalf. And so there was a, there was this whole huge campaign on TikTok, which was under Romanian election law, illegal, you know, so

that somebody was funding, you know, I think it's more than a million dollars, which goes a long way on TikTok. And there were influencers being paid to support him. And there were, there was some kind of network of bots or accounts that were, were activated on his behalf. And so there was a, there was this whole huge campaign on TikTok, which was under Romanian election law, illegal, you know, so

that somebody was funding, you know, I think it's more than a million dollars, which goes a long way on TikTok. And there were influencers being paid to support him. And there were, there was some kind of network of bots or accounts that were, were activated on his behalf. And so there was a, there was this whole huge campaign on TikTok, which was under Romanian election law, illegal, you know, so

So he broke the law or someone broke the law on his behalf in order to campaign on TikTok. I mean, it's maybe worth saying just a couple sentences about him. I'm writing something about him that will appear soonish. He's called Callan Georgescu, and he is someone who is both simultaneously speaks for warmly and favorably of the old Romanian far right.

So he broke the law or someone broke the law on his behalf in order to campaign on TikTok. I mean, it's maybe worth saying just a couple sentences about him. I'm writing something about him that will appear soonish. He's called Callan Georgescu, and he is someone who is both simultaneously speaks for warmly and favorably of the old Romanian far right.

So he broke the law or someone broke the law on his behalf in order to campaign on TikTok. I mean, it's maybe worth saying just a couple sentences about him. I'm writing something about him that will appear soonish. He's called Callan Georgescu, and he is someone who is both simultaneously speaks for warmly and favorably of the old Romanian far right.

This is the people who carried out the Holocaust in Romania, the Romanian fascists from the wartime era. And at the same time, he has a very weird spiritual, mystical health issue. anti-vax kind of... Oh, great.

This is the people who carried out the Holocaust in Romania, the Romanian fascists from the wartime era. And at the same time, he has a very weird spiritual, mystical health issue. anti-vax kind of... Oh, great.

This is the people who carried out the Holocaust in Romania, the Romanian fascists from the wartime era. And at the same time, he has a very weird spiritual, mystical health issue. anti-vax kind of... Oh, great.

Exactly. I mean, genuinely exactly. He's like, and he's a huge fan of RFK Jr. and talks about him. And there's a video of him where he goes swimming in a

Exactly. I mean, genuinely exactly. He's like, and he's a huge fan of RFK Jr. and talks about him. And there's a video of him where he goes swimming in a

Exactly. I mean, genuinely exactly. He's like, and he's a huge fan of RFK Jr. and talks about him. And there's a video of him where he goes swimming in a

pond in the winter appearing to suffer no back you know it's snowing outside there's a voiceover where he says i don't need vaccines i just have my faith and my belief and i'm you know and i'm kept safe by god or something like that that's not an exact quote that's a paraphrase you know but so that it's that kind of combination of stuff you know it's appealing to the people who are skeptical of medicine plus the people oh he has a thing about water as well that

pond in the winter appearing to suffer no back you know it's snowing outside there's a voiceover where he says i don't need vaccines i just have my faith and my belief and i'm you know and i'm kept safe by god or something like that that's not an exact quote that's a paraphrase you know but so that it's that kind of combination of stuff you know it's appealing to the people who are skeptical of medicine plus the people oh he has a thing about water as well that

pond in the winter appearing to suffer no back you know it's snowing outside there's a voiceover where he says i don't need vaccines i just have my faith and my belief and i'm you know and i'm kept safe by god or something like that that's not an exact quote that's a paraphrase you know but so that it's that kind of combination of stuff you know it's appealing to the people who are skeptical of medicine plus the people oh he has a thing about water as well that

Water is mystical, and we have a special connection to water, and carbonated water is like pollution. And when you drink carbonated water, I don't know if it's literally or metaphorically, it's like you're ingesting nanochips that will change your brain or something like that.