During his recent appearance on PRIMO NUTMEG, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader said that he thinks Democratic Party leadership was using Russia as a "scapegoat" for losing to Donald Trump and Republicans in November.

The author of Unsafe at Any Speed, who ran for president with the Green Party in 1996 and 2000 and then as an independent in 2004 and 2008, noted the irony of Americans being offended by the possibility of foreign influence in our elections.

"Well, first, we're the teachers. We have overthrown over 50 governments since World War II, the CIA and other operatives. Second, we interfere in all kinds of elections. We interfered in the Russian election. We interfered in the Ukraine election. We interfere in Middle East government elections. You know? So it's sort of strange for them, for us to be so upset. Right?"

Nader did suggest that Russians might have tried to influence the election, however does not believe that their actions determined the outcome.

"Now, they did hack into various systems, Russian-sourced hackers. But I have no evidence yet that they effected the outcome of the election. We'll see what the House and Senate investigative committees come up with, but I see no effect. How would they effect the Presidential election? Trump was blasting off lies and exaggerations and fantasies. It wasn't like they added to it. So, we'll see what the investigations come up with."

In the end, Nader said that Democrats were trying to use Russia as an excuse for why they lost rather than the fact that Hillary Clinton and their platform simply did not win over American voters.

"I think it's the usual quest by the Democratic Party, when they lose an election, is to scapegoat. They scapegoat the Green Party in 2000. They love to find a scapegoat, because they don't want to change themselves and get new leaders. No, it's Nancy Pelosi, four-time loser, keeps getting elected by her peers in the House as head of Democrats in the House.

"So they're always looking for scapegoats instead of looking at themselves in the mirror and saying, 'How come we cannot landslide the worst, ugliest, most viscous, cruel, stupid, warlike Republican Party in its history?' Indentured to the hilt to Wall Street interests and oil and gas interests. Why can't they landslide them? Because they're dialing for the same dollars.

"They're dialing for the same commercial dollars. They don't have any new energy in them. And they can't stand competition from the left, which is why they always slam the Green Party. Because, instead of taking the issues -- which are popular issues, like full Medicare for all, a higher minimum wage -- they should have taken those issues from the Green Party."