Sen. Tommy Tuberville raised a few eyebrows last week when he suggested that Vladimir Putin is genuinely interested in “a peace agreement,” because the Russian leader said so during an interview with Tucker Carlson. While most U.S. officials tend to realize that the dictator hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt, the senior senator from Alabama apparently disagreed.
Yesterday, the coach-turned-politician appeared on Fox Business and echoed the sentiment, accepting Putin’s rhetoric at face value and declaring that Ukraine “can’t win” in response to Russia’s invasion.
But as jarring as it was to see Tuberville take such a position, it’s important to note that the Alabaman isn’t the only member of the Senate Republican conference speaking this way.
Take Sen. Ron Johnson, for example. The Wisconsin Republican, who was part of a Senate delegation that famously spent the 4th of July in Moscow in 2018, appeared on a conservative media outlet this week and explained his position. Johnson conceded that the Russian leader is a “war criminal,” before saying, “But an awful lot of what Vladimir Putin said was right.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) says Vladimir Putin made "accurate, obvious" points in his interview with Tucker Carlson:
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 12, 2024
"He's certainly not talking about his atrocities in Ukraine. But an awful lot of what Vladimir Putin said was right … Putin will not lose. He's not gonna lose." pic.twitter.com/VDhJ8MAnYX
In the same interview, the GOP senator — the former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee — criticized U.S. sanctions before concluding, “A lot of the points that Vladimir Putin made are accurate. They’re obvious.”
On Capitol Hill, Johnson pushed a similar line. Politico reported:








