Russian President Vladimir Putin could not have asked for a better week from the Republican Party. Apart from the week Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, I’m hard-pressed to think of a seven-day period in which the Kremlin got more of a return on its investment in conservative American politics.
The Kremlin started its streak when Putin’s friendly interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson dropped last Thursday. Carlson flattered the warmonger in a major victory for the Russian government‘s efforts to push its talking points directly to the base of the Russophilic Republican Party. Russia largely used inauthentic social media accounts during the 2016 and 2020 elections to push its talking points more surreptitiously. But this was different. Even if it was a snoozefest, the Putin-Carlson interview showed that Russia could enlist American media figures to push its views in the open, without hiding behind fake social media accounts (though Russia is almost certainly still using those, too).
The Kremlin notched more wins throughout the week. There was Trump’s claim that, if elected, he would allow Russia to do “whatever the hell” it wants to U.S. allies who don’t “pay [their] bills,” in a misguided reference to NATO members‘ budgetary targets. The silence or side-stepping from many Republican lawmakers on his comment was probably music to Putin’s ears.
One suspects the Putin regime has also watched happily as Republican lawmakers have tried their hardest to block aid to Ukraine. While the Senate managed Tuesday to approve a package that includes aid for Ukraine, the bill’s prospects in the House seem grim.
But lest you think that Senate Republicans have retained some perspective, remember that the bill’s passage in the Senate only came despite far-right Republicans’ kicking and screaming. And my colleague Steve Benen has blogged about Sens. Ron Johnson and Tommy Tuberville’s praise for Putin’s softball interview with Carlson, as well as Sen. JD Vance making the ridiculous claim that funding Ukraine is part of a secret plot to impeach Trump (assuming he’s elected president).
Look, I obviously don’t speak for the Kremlin here. But I have to imagine Putin and his underlings are mighty pleased to see the American conservative movement going to such lengths to protect and defend his regime’s illiberal ambitions.
