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It is rather remarkable to see some republicans and their supporters become so blinded by their partisanship that they are now throwing their support behind Vladimir Putin and his indefensible invasion of Ukraine. That’s right: conservatives are so committed to opposing Democrats that they would rather praise the Russian leader who is being accused of war crimes and whose end game may still not be fully known.
This assault on democracy has been praised by members of the Republican party in America: Donald Trump, calling Vladimir Putin smart, a genius while Trump was president of the United States. He’s the guy who lifted sanctions from Russia…check the record. A bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives had to vote to condemn Donald Trump lifting the sanctions. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, US Congresswoman out of the state of Georgia, keynotes a white nationalist conference just a few days ago. Before she took her position on the stage that crowd was shouting, “PUTIN, PUTIN!” They had just given a round of applause for Russia because [Nick] Fuentes, their leader and a known white nationalist, told them to. Marjorie Taylor-Greene keynotes that function. And it does not send chills through the body of everyone in there. It has become acceptable. It has become more than tolerable.
There was a time when a global conflict like this would unite Americans no matter their political beliefs. Think back to 9/11 and the bipartisan sentiment that permeated the country. We’re nowhere close to that now, and we can thank Trump for that. He is what led to this division among conservatives in their attitude toward Putin. Can you imagine any Republican politician during any of the Bush presidencies or during the Reagan years actually speaking at a convention where people were chanting the name of the Russian leader? Can you imagine any Republican president not condemning Moscow for an unprovoked invasion like Putin’s?
I can’t either.
