Putin and republicans..

Not all Republicans are supporting the invasion. What I’ve read is that most of them are against it, and the majority of congressional Republicans agree with Biden’s sanctions. Then there’s a minority (including some pundits) that think Biden is being weak and that Putin is justified (somewhat) in what he’s doing.

This gives some examples, but I am sure there are more. I know Steve Bannon was also on a podcast talking about it. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/23/republicans-putin-biden-ukraine/

Tulsi Gabbard, (Dinosaurus Extremis) is saying some insidious things too, just to be fair that it’s not just republicans. 😬

I do wonder just how many of Tucker Carlson’s viewers are actually buying what he’s selling on this.

I think rather than Republican politicians supporting Putin, it's more Republican media personalities like Steve Bannon, Candace Owens & Tucker Carlson. Republican politicians have been relatively quiet regarding Putin, they're afraid of Trump and for the most part, don't want to publicly disagree with him about Putin.
Republican politicians and media personalities are all unified in blaming Biden and accusing him of being weak. None of them have practical suggestions for what to do differently other than more sanctions.


www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/23/republicans-putin-biden-ukraine/

Conservative commentator Candace Owens tweeted this week: “I suggest every American who wants to know what’s *actually* going on in Russia and Ukraine, read this transcript of Putin’s address. As I’ve said for month — NATO (under direction from the United States) is violating previous agreements and expanding eastward. WE are at fault.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, like many others on the right, minimized Russia’s move to invade and overpower a neighboring country as a “border conflict” that should not concern Americans.
“It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious: ‘What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?’” Carlson said Tuesday. “‘Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?’”

Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state under Trump and recently called Putin “savvy” and “very talented.”
“I have enormous respect for him,” Pompeo said in a Feb. 18 call with the Center for the National Interest. “I’ve been criticized for saying that.” And he told Fox News: “He’s a very talented statesman. He has lots of gifts. He was a KGB agent, for goodness’ sakes. He knows how to use power. We should respect that.”


www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/24/ukraine-russia-republicans-trump-putin/

Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s onetime chief strategist, and Erik Prince, the former head of military contractor Blackwater, emphasized in a Thursday discussion aired on Bannon’s show that Putin had taken a hard line on social issues. “Putin ain’t woke,” Bannon said. Fox News host Tucker Carlson told viewers they should ask themselves, “Why do I hate Putin so much?”


heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-22-2022?utm_source=url

The press secretary for Florida governor Ron DeSantis, for example, tweeted that “the sad fact is that the USA is in no position to ‘promote democracy’ abroad while our own country is falling apart.” She continued: “I can never trust the federal government in any way.” J.D. Vance, a Republican candidate for the Senate from Ohio, said, “[T]he Russia–Ukraine border dispute has nothing to do with our national security, no American interest is served by our intervention, and that the obsession with Ukraine from our idiot leaders serves no function except to distract us from our actual problems.” Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) called for sanctions, not against Russia but against “senior officials in the Canadian government,” apparently because authorities there have arrested members of the truck convoy shutting down border crossings and cities to protest vaccine mandates for truckers.

Some have gone further, either defending Putin or attacking America outright. Candidate for New York Representative to Congress Andrew McCarthy tweeted: “Putin protects the church, tradition, and Russian culture to an extent that globalists cannot accept…. We deal with far worse governments regularly.” Right-wing commentator Candace Owens went further, actually blaming the U.S. for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “WE are at fault,” she tweeted.


As far as Trumps conflicting statements, I thought this was a really accurate description.


www.npr.org/2022/02/24/1082954761/republicans-are-condemning-putin-for-the-invasion-of-ukraine-and-criticizing-bid

"I haven't parsed his somewhat-confusing statements, both condemning and at the same time admiring and at the same time deploring what has happened," Pletka said. "But, no surprise, Trump sees this through the prism of his own ego and his own power, much less through the prism of a geopolitical strategy or even American strength and security."

As we’ve seen the Trump cultists leap so quickly to believe/defend what Tucker and others tell them, I don’t think it a a stretch to imagine that those people (about 30% of the country) are at least warming up to the idea of going pro-Russia.

Trump is obviously supporting his homeboy, Putin. Pompeo is the only other GOP Presidential hopeful I've seen praise Putin. Many are avoiding any statement so they don't contradict TFG. DeSantis didn't mention Russia or Ukraine at all in his CPAC speech today.

Most Republicans are condemning the Russians and complaining that the Biden response is weak.

Your friend is wrong.

Here's Carlson for you..


They are showing Carlson's show on RT, Russian TV... with sub titles..

I think she’s under Putin’s thumb, too. She’s not a democrat.

But Bannon is an idiot who should not be allowed freedom of speech, First Amendment be damned.

Comments like that have been ALLL over my local news facebook page. It's maddening. Why can those people not step into their own brain long enough to think that maybe, just MAYBE, Trump buddying up with Putin emboldened him into thinking a good portion of our country will be okay with him playing Hitler of the Balkans? UGH