Russia is Invading the United States, Too

Putin has captured the minds of wayward GOP elites, putting America in danger

Photo by Jørgen Håland on Unsplash

“Why should I care about Ukraine?” You will hear this across the country in the coming days, weeks, and months.

And the response is simple: It’s not just Ukraine. Russia is invading the United States, too.

While it’s not a military incursion, Americans must wake up to the fact that Russian propaganda is infiltrating our country, and it poses a serious threat to U.S. national security.

You didn’t have to look far this week to see Moscow seizing the minds of prominent U.S. figures, primarily on the right, who either excused Russia’s behavior or even embraced it:

• Ex-President Donald Trump applauded Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling the dictator “pretty smart” and, later, a “genius.”
• Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson — who hosts one of the highest-rated cable shows in U.S. history — scoffed at criticism of Putin and downplayed the invasion; in previously covering the conflict, Carlson remarked: “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which, by the way, I am.”
• FOX News Host Laura Ingraham blamed the war on the “weakness and incompetence” of the Biden Administration and blasted the Ukrainian President as “pathetic.”
• Meanwhile, Republican Senate candidate JD Vance proudly touted his complete indifference on social media — “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens in Ukraine” — and chastised “idiot ‘leaders’” from focusing on the crisis.
• Former Trump presidential advisor Steve Bannon praised Putin for not being “woke,” pointing to the dictator’s anti-LGBT policies, and described U.S. conservatives who share seemingly pro-Russia views as “the new right, or the new Republican Party.”

How do you know Putin’s regime is pleased by the fawning support on parts of the American right? Because Russian television is running the comments on repeat.

In fairness, the Republican Party is split on Ukraine, with top senators and congressmen advocating for a tougher response to counter Moscow’s invasion. But the fact that a large proportion have come out on the Putin’s…