AL JAZEERA: Russian president has enjoyed support among US conservatives, but Ukraine attack now prompts criticism.
As Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine continues, a number of prominent American conservatives who had previously been complimentary of Vladimir Putin have been forced to confront past comments praising the Russian president. For years, Putin has enjoyed support from an unlikely coalition of elected Republican officials, conservative Christian leaders and right-wing television hosts, whose praise has ranged from admiration of his intelligence to his hardline position against progressive cultural ideas.
“The question of the American right’s support for Putin and Russia is a complex, many-layered issue,” Devin Burghart, president of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, told Al Jazeera.
“There is an attraction to Putin’s hardline authoritarian stance and his aggressive foreign policy. Others are attracted to the brand of traditionalist Christianity Putin has expressed. Some like Putin’s attacks on the Russian LGBTQ community.”
In many ways, the American right’s Putin problem starts at the top.
Former President Donald Trump, who has voiced admiration for Putin for years, appeared to praise the Russian leader’s advances days before the invasion on February 24, calling the moves “smart” and “savvy”.
“Putin is smart,” Trump also told a gathering in Mar-a-lago, Florida, on the eve of Russian forces’ all-out attack on Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of civilians and forced more than a million people to flee. “He’s taken over a country for two dollars worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.” » | Chris Moody | Friday, March 4, 2022
