Vladimir Putin has gone to war with Ukraine. In the United States, right-wing pundits and politicians are lining up with Putin. Max Boot writes:
Tucker Carlson has become Putin’s No. 1 American apologist — and a favorite of Russian state television — by incessantly arguing that the United States has no stake in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. “Vladimir Putin does not want Belgium,” Carlson says. “He just wants to keep his western borders secure. That’s why he doesn’t want Ukraine to join NATO, and that makes sense.”
Carlson’s views are echoed by other America Firsters. Right-wing troll Candace Owens tweets: “NATO (under direction from the United States) is violating previous agreements and expanding eastward. WE are at fault.” Her fellow troll Charlie Kirk opines: “It feels as if Putin is going into places that want him. … It is a family dispute that we shouldn’t get in the midst of, that’s for certain.” Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance said, “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine.” Fox’s Maria Bartiromo imaginatively suggested that the Biden administration’s “hysteria” about a Russian invasion of Ukraine might be a “ruse” to distract from the latest nonsensical allegations about Hillary Clinton spying on Trump.
This is the authentic voice of Trump’s America First movement — and it would be solidly in control of a second Trump term in a way it was not during most of his first term. Indeed, if Trump stages a comeback in 2024, he might well be counting on more political aid from Putin of the kind that he received in 2016.
In Canada, Conservative senator Denise Batters claims that the demonstrators in Ottawa were "friendly," "patriotic," and are being demonized by the "chattering classes." And, in the House, Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif argues that what happened in Ottawa amounted to a "parking problem."
Proof that the right-wing isn't just vile. It's insane.
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