Georgian ruling party MP claims ‘deep state’ targeted Trump, Georgian Dream with pro-Russian labels

The chairman of Georgia’s parliamentary committee on legal affairs, Archil Gorduladze, has alleged that US President Donald Trump, as well as Georgia's ruling party Georgian Dream, had been unfairly targeted by what he called the “deep state" and opposition forces using Cold War-era propaganda tactics.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Gorduladze said “It is a confirmed fact that the 'deep state' fought against and continues to fight Donald Trump - a president who is inconvenient to these forces. They branded him as pro-Russian and then demanded he defend himself.”

He drew parallels with Georgia, asserting that since 2011, political opponents had tried to portray Georgian Dream members and supporters as pro-Russian in order to discredit them.

“Exactly the same thing happened in France, Germany, Moldova, Hungary, and Serbia. In Georgia - especially since 2011 - the opposition has attempted to falsely label over 41,000 Georgian Dream members and more than 1.1 million supporters as pro-Russian and enemies of the state,” Gorduladze claimed.

He likened the efforts to “Goebbels-like and Bolshevik rhetoric”, suggesting the creation of an “enemy image” was being used as a political weapon when opponents had “nothing substantive to say”.