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GOP hardly unanimous in regards to Ukraine [1]

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Date: 2023-02-01  

Thank you to DK for having this image in their library. It's far better than anything I found online.

One disadvantage of reading a news and commentary site that’s strongly aligned to your own viewpoint is that it’s very easy to demonize the “other” side, attributing to it views which are held by the noisiest members of that side. The more you stay in your bubble, the less and less accurate your view of your political opponents becomes.

One such example can be found here on Daily Kos. When you read the comments to stories on Ukraine, you find a lot of comments about Republicans which paint the entire party as a bunch of Putin sycophants. The reality on the Republican side is far more complicated.

Yes, there are Putin sycophants. They’re led by former President Donald Trump with the aid of the MAGA wing of the party, with Tucker Carlson busy cheering them on. It’s easy to confuse the party as a whole with that segment of the party because (1) they’re noisy as Hell, and (2) the media likes sound bites.

(As has been pointed out before, it’s hard to know what Tucker Carlson actually believes. He seems to be driven by a need for better and better ratings, and feels the best way to get them is to be more and more outrageous.)

But the reality is that the party is much more divided on the issue of Ukraine. From an article in The Daily Caller discussing Trump’s proposed peace plan:

Former Trump officials that are likely to run in 2024, including John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence and Nikki Haley, have not proposed Trump’s peace plan, have argued for being tough on Putin and for sending more weapons to Ukraine. Other possible candidates — Ted Cruz, Kristi Noem, Rick Scott, Tim Scott, Glenn Youngkin and Ron DeSantis — have also not endorsed Trump’s policy of a negotiated peace deal. Bolton, who was Trump’s national security adviser and has strongly hinted at a 2024 run, was the only one bold enough to directly oppose Trump’s negotiated peace deal policy. “No,” Bolton told the Daily Caller. Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state has said the U.S. should continue sending Ukraine “tools” and “resources” to fight Russia, as Ukrainians are fighting a war in America’s interest without having Americans on the ground. Former Vice President Mike Pence said, “I believe that conservatives must make it clear that Putin must stop and Putin will pay … There can be no room in the conservative movement for apologists to Putin. There is only room in this movement for champions of freedom.” Former U.N. Ambassador Haley criticized the Biden administration for forcing Zelenskyy to “beg” for aid, while Ukraine is undergoing a “genocide.” Texas Sen. Cruz pushed for the Biden administration to fund more lethal aid to Ukraine after having a conversation with Zelenskyy in March, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has asked the Biden administration to provide aid at a quicker pace. Florida Sen. Rick Scott has advocated for sending lethal aid to Ukraine and tackling domestic issues at the same time.

I’m not saying that there aren’t Putin apologists in the GOP. You probably could start with the 20 MAGA members of the House. But claiming the Republicans are all anti-Ukraine is as accurate as claiming that Democrats & Progressives are all Tankies.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2150514/-GOP-hardly-unanimous-in-regards-to-Ukraine

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