If you thought the media were going to take a step back and perhaps tone it down, you were wrong. Of course, no one actually thought that so no harm done.

You may think the story you are about to see is a parody or tongue in cheek, but nope, it’s real life.

Trump entertains Russian hockey player and Putin ally in the White Househttps://t.co/ubvWWfdBkd — Raw Story (@RawStory) March 26, 2019

It has only been a few short days since Attorney General Bill Barr released his summary of the special counsel’s report about Russia interference into the 2016 election, and President Donald Trump is already entertaining “prominent” Russians at the White House… …Ovechkin’s connection to Putin has been questioned. “Mr. Ovechkin had said he is an apolitical sports star. But questions about his connections to Mr. Putin, and whether he is a participant, knowingly or unknowingly, in a Kremlin propaganda machine, have swirled around his career. They peaked when Mr. Ovechkin announced last year the creation of a ‘civic movement’ that he branded online as #putinteam, ahead of Russia’s elections,” the report said. The Times added that Ovechkin has his own relationship with Putin.

You figured it out yet?

Yes, the Russian in question is Washington Capitals captain and NHL star Alex Ovechkin, who went to the White House as part of a team visit. They just won the Stanley Cup. Why is Donald Trump always palling around with Russians !?!

And before we just blame the Raw Story, it was actually The New York Times who first decided it was a good idea to “report” on Ovechkin’s “ties to Putin.”

Ok, ok, catch your breath from the laughter. It gets funnier because a lot of people actually bought this story.

In a now deleted tweet (so you know he was serious and not joking), MSNBC conspiracy theorist and self-proclaimed Russia expert snarked that Trump can’t even go a day without entertaining those dastardly Russians.

This is just embarrassing. He hosted the NHL champs, ffs. pic.twitter.com/X5A3sspErX — John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) March 26, 2019

For more comedic value, look who retweeted it before it was deleted. That would be Tom Nichols, the noted Never Trumper and failed conservative personality who’s decided to adopt essentially every liberal position and tells Republicans to vote for Democrats. I can’t imagine why no one takes him seriously anymore.

Russia hysteria has reached peak stupidity at this point. Did the Russians try to meddle in the 2016 election? Sure. They do that in ever election. Sending a phishing email to John Podesta and putting up Jesus vs. Hillary memes on Facebook are not top level tactics. The devolution into full blown McCarthyism needs to stop. It’s damaging to the country and to our foreign policy. The Russians are only out to get you in so far as they’ve always been out to get you. As NFL QB Aaron Rodgers once famously said in a press conference, R E L A X.

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