Russia seems one of the least likely places to go given what's reported to have been his political and ideological leanings.

Weird situation overall.

> “He was usually watching videos about Palestine and was so angry at America,” one acquaintance told iStories. “He started thinking about going to Russia. He wanted to war with the USA. But I think he was very influenced by the conspiracy theory videos.”

He was brainwashed by online propaganda.

Actually, it goes further than that. Russia has always been the master of Realpolitik. In this case, they pushed Iran to encourage Hamas, in the hopes that it would distract America and draw their focus away from Ukraine. That it split voters was just icing on the cake. Most Russian initiatives are small, inexpensive, and speculative in nature. Do enough of them in concert, and some will succeed at very low cost to you, and with convenient deniability (undersea cables, for example). And since they don't have to fear Western armed belligerence anymore, it's very low-cost indeed!

Yeah, it wasn’t the mass murdering of civilians with full material (several Hiroshimas worth of conventional explosives, free of charge) and poltical support of the ruling Democratic party that divided voters. Wasn’t the senile president and his joke of a replacement. It was Russia. Via their unstoppable social media wurlitzer. If you disagree you’re part of it, ipso facto. And a bot.

>HN'ers probably don't see it

Takes a very special mind to see it.