Two years ago, after Russia launched a war in Ukraine, the vast majority of American policymakers in Washington, D.C., condemned the invasion and expressed support for the United States’ ally. There were, however, exceptions.
Former House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney took note of the GOP voices who appeared to side with Moscow, labeling them the Republican Party’s “Putin wing.”
At the time, there was a broad consensus on Capitol Hill in support of aid to Ukraine, and the number of GOP lawmakers balking was relatively modest. Nearly two years later, a Republican House speaker is afraid to even let members consider a bill extending security aid to Ukraine because the scope of far-right opposition is so overwhelming.
It led Cheney to return to the label she championed in 2022. Here’s what the former congresswoman told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union”:
“I think that we have to take Donald Trump very seriously. We have to take seriously the extent to which you have now got a Putin wing of the Republican Party. I believe the issue this election cycle is making sure the Putin wing of the Republican Party does not take over the West Wing of the White House.”
Cheney is right to be concerned. Shortly after her on-air appearance, The Hill reported, “Senate Republicans who voted to advance aid for Ukraine last week are taking heavy incoming from allies of former President Trump, who are calling them out publicly and threatening primary challenges after they defied Trump’s calls to oppose the package.”
But what shouldn’t get lost in the larger discussion is that the American public, two years into the war, hasn’t exactly been persuaded by the GOP’s so-called “Putin wing.” Late last week, the Pew Research Center released a report on public attitudes regarding the war, and the findings were at odds with the far-right vision. Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 74% of Americans view the war there as important to U.S. national interests — with 43% describing it as very important. … When asked how important each conflict is to them personally, 59% of Americans say the war between Russia and Ukraine is important to them.
Not surprisingly given the larger context, there’s a partisan gap, and Democratic voters are more likely than GOP voters to see the Russia-Ukraine war as important to U.S. national interests. But the split wasn’t overwhelming: 81% of Democrats vs. 69% of Republicans. With this in mind, to the extent that the Republican Party has a “Putin wing,” it’s succeeding in blocking bipartisan legislation on Capitol Hill, but it’s finding less success in convincing the American mainstream.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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