Tl;dr: yes. Yes he is

Despite the header being framed as a question I’m glad that DW has 2 experts to essentially confirm it beyond doubt. In the face of extremism media outlets should not be afraid to call out the obvious. Let the extremists and demagogues accuse them of bias, they will do it no matter what; do not cater to bad faith agents.

It’s clearly political interference from US

Bit late working that out but at least they got there.