(Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Thought for the Day: We are faced with an unstable, paranoid autocrat — consumed by delusions, dependent on lies and conspiracy theories, refusing to admit that he has been defeated —with his finger on the nuclear button.
But, thank God, we only have one, not two of them.
ICYMI, you should go back and re-read Mona Charen’s brilliant piece: “Thank God Trump Isn’t President Right Now.”
Happy Friday.
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Let’s start with some good news before we get to less cheery tidings.
On yesterday’s podcast, Michael Weiss singled out this website as one of the most reliable sources of accurate information about what’s happening in Ukraine. This is what they reported last night: “Russia already lost, it just doesn’t know it yet.”
These are the kinds of losses they are talking about.
At the same time, there are signs of a crackup in the Kremlin. Here’s the former U.S. ambassador to Russia:
The Chinese seem to reading the signs and adjusting accordingly.
Who speaks for the GOP now?
The GOP is experiencing some severe cognitive dissonance right now. Consider this mixed messaging: (and rank hypocrisy):
More than two dozen Senate Republicans are demanding that President Biden do more to aid war-torn Ukraine and arm its forces against Russia’s brutal assault, after voting last week against $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
Perhaps the confusion reflects the shift in the GOP base, which continues to disapprove of most anything President Biden does, but wants a more robust response to the Russian invasion. Here are the latest Pew numbers:
Which brings us to this interesting moment in GOP politics.
Right now, the pro-Putin (or anti-anti-Putin) faction is clearly in the minority, but they continue to have out-sized influence, especially on Russian state TV, where they provide aid and comfort to the Kremlin.
As the Republican Accountability Project notes, “Only 5 percent of Republicans support Russia over Ukraine, but the MAGA wing of the GOP has continually sided with Putin and against Ukraine.” RAP has helpfully collected some of the MAGA commentary. It’s worth bookmarking.
“So Putin is now saying it’s independent, a large section of Ukraine. I said, ‘How smart is that?’ And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force.”
Fmr. President Donald Trump, February 2022 · Quote Source
“[Putin is] taking over a country for two dollars worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”
Fmr. President Donald Trump, February 2022 · Quote Source
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.”
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), March 2022 · Quote Source
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), March 2022 · Quote Source
“I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”
Tucker Carlson, FOX News, December 2019 · Quote Source
“I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
J.D. Vance, US Senate Candidate, February 2022 · Quote Source
“Every American who wants to know what’s *actually* going on in Russia and Ukraine, read this transcript of Putin’s address…WE are at fault.”
Candace Owens, Daily Wire, February 2022 · Quote Source
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.”
Steve Bannon, March 2022 · Quote Source
“The Soviet Union back before Russia when it broke up contained all of Ukraine including Crimea. The country itself is not really a country”
Peter Navarro, Former Trump WH Advisor, December 2021 · Quote Source
“I’m more concerned with the US-Mexico border than the Russia-Ukraine border. Not sorry.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), January 2022 · Quote Source
“It feels as if Putin is going into places that want him. They have voted overwhelmingly to be part of it. It is a family dispute that we shouldn’t get in the midst of, that’s for certain.”
Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA, February 2022 · Quote Source
“We had kind of a really pathetic display from the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.”
Laura Ingraham, FOX News, February 2022 · Quote Source
“Putin–unlike someone else we know–LOVES his country & FIGHTS for its interests”
Dinesh D’Souza, [convicted felon] September 2016 · Quote Source
“[Putin is] a very strong leader. He’s been in charge for a long time. And he’s not going to put up with the nonsense he’s seeing in Europe.”
Mike Flynn, former Trump National Security Advisor, February 2022 · Quote Source
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.”
State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-AZ), February 2022 · Quote Source
“I wish Putin was president of America.”
Nick Fuentes, America First Political Action Conference, February 2022 · Quote Source
Add to this list: the eight (8) GOP representatives who voted yesterday against removing Most Favored Nation status from Russia and Belarus: Biggs (Ariz.) Bishop (N.C.) Boebert (Colo.) Gaetz (Fla.) Greene (Ga.) Grothman (Wis.) Massie (Ky.) Roy (Texas).
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So how will all this play out? A few weeks ago, I wrote in Politico Magazine that “the Putin-is-a-savvy-genius wing of the party may be small at the moment, but as we have seen over and over, the MAGA voices are the Republican id these days.” And I predicted that Republican politicians would sooner or later fall in line.
But this is not inevitable. And I may be wrong here. (Bookmark this too.)
Dave Weigel highlights the shifting political landscape:
Republicans like [Liz] Cheney, increasingly marginalized in the party before the Ukraine crisis, have new math on their side. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found that 75 percent of American adults wanted Washington to “do whatever it can to help Ukraine, without risking a direct war between the U.S. and Russia,” even while a majority of adults opposed creating a no-fly zone.
The split in the GOP has already begun to show up in red-on-red attacks in primary election campaigns. (And may have already killed J.D. Vance’s deplorable campaign.)
In North Carolina, where another Republican U.S. Senate primary is unfolding, former governor Pat McCrory began running ads last week that accused Rep. Ted Budd (R) of praising Russian President Vladimir Putin's intelligence “while Ukrainians bled and died” and attacked him for voting against a previous round of Russian sanctions.
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All of this is merely prologue to the much more fundamental choice that Republicans will have to make. And this is not about Trump’s “mean tweets” or his “personality”.
Once again, the party faces a time for choosing: Will they continue to back their party’s most voluble Putin defender? Or will they stand with the rest of the world?
Who speaks for the GOP?
Oryx @oryxspioenkop
Michael McFaul @McFaul
Raf Sanchez @rafsanchez