The fissures point to a growing divide in the Republican Party, between traditional foreign policy hawks who have advocated for a more confrontational U.S. posture to the Russian strongman and a Trump-aligned “MAGA” faction that has expressed some sympathy for Putin’s tactics or described them as effective.
“I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful,” Trump told a conservative podcaster in an interview published Tuesday.
On the same day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell struck a very different tone by tearing into “Putin’s aggression” and urging Biden to take quick and aggressive action, warning of “catastrophic” consequences if the West failed to challenge Putin.
The shifting sentiments on the right have put ambitious Republican politicians in a complicated position and revealed divisions in how they approach the crisis. Some are striking a clear anti-Putin note, while others praise his abilities. Some GOP candidates in the 2022 election are trying to avoid the fray by saying they’re simply not concerned about Ukraine.