Trump largely isolated in praise for Putin as GOP condemns Russian invasion
Leading Republicans on Thursday assailed Russia for plunging Europe into its first major land war in decades - isolating former president Donald Trump, the de facto standard-bearer of their party, in his praise for the country's authoritarian leader.
From Capitol Hill to the campaign trail, prominent GOP voices, including some close Trump loyalists, vowed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would pay a severe price for ordering a military offensive against Ukraine, even as the party sought to blame President Joe Biden for the crisis. Meanwhile, Republican leaders strained to articulate an alternative policy to counter Russia's revanchist campaign - at once insisting on more severe measures and opposing the deployment of U.S. forces, which Biden has said is not an option.
The crosscurrents point to the hurdles Republicans face in staking out a position against foreign adversaries that include not just Russia but also China as they contend with the former president's admiration for strongmen and an ascendant wing within their party that disfavors foreign intervention.
The competing impulses were captured in the reaction of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a rising GOP star who replaced the hawkish Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., as chair of the party's House Conference.
Stefanik's statement, mostly trained on Biden's leadership capacities, also criticized Putin as a "gutless, bloodthirsty, authoritarian dictator." The solution she proposed, with few details, was "strength."
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who has suggested blocking Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance, which would mean acceding to a key Putin demand, nonetheless backed sweeping action in a Thursday statement.
"President Biden must act now to hit Vladimir Putin where it hurts, beginning with Russia's energy sector," he said. "The Biden administration should sanction Russian energy production to a halt, and help arm the Ukrainians to defend themselves."
Trump, in a radio interview on Tuesday, called Putin's actions "genius," though he appeared to strike a sarcastic tone at times. On Wednesday, he told donors gathered at his Mar-a-Lago Club that Putin's moves were "pretty smart," according to a video of his remarks. And in an appearance on Fox News later that evening, he made the claim that the invasion was a result of what he falsely described as the "rigged election" in 2020.
Trump has often told aides that Putin is "a brilliant strategist, and really tough, and really smart and savvy," said a person who has spoken to him about it on numerous occasions, and that "Biden is not up for it." He told donors gathered for dinner at Mar-a-Lago last year how "tough" Putin was, according to a person who heard the comments. The person, who like others in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions, said the former president is "very respectful of Putin, in a perverse sort of way."
The person said Trump's observations on Wednesday were meant not to buttress Putin, but to contrast him with Biden and portray Biden as not up for the job, adding that some allies were trying to get him to tweak his comments. A Trump spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
Former vice president Mike Pence, while critical of Biden, also sharply attacked Putin in a Fox News appearance Wednesday evening. "No one in the GOP should be praising Vladimir Putin. He's a former KGB officer and a dictator and a thug. We should be clear about that," said Marc Short, the former vice president's longtime chief of staff, in an interview.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he had breakfast Thursday with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in between a conversation with a top State Department official and calls with Democratic senators to discuss a supplemental appropriations bill that would aid the Ukrainian people. Graham said he wasn't a fan of Trump's "genius" comment about Putin, "but I understood what the president was trying to say."
"Number one, the Republican Party is going to rally around the idea that Putin is a thug and a crook," Graham said in an interview. "I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Republican senators see what's happening to Ukraine is detrimental to our national security and well-being."
Competitive primaries throughout the country showcased the GOP's divisions on foreign policy as well as a clear preference within segments of the party not to engage on Putin's attack, which is quickly becoming the most significant threat to European security since World War II.
In the crowded Senate contest in Ohio, J.D. Vance, a self-styled populist who rose to prominence with the publication of his 2016 "Hillbilly Elegy," said this week, "I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other." In a Thursday statement, he seemed to walk that remark back by saying, "Russia's assault on Ukraine is unquestionably a tragedy." But he also claimed that demands for a response are thinly veiled calls for military intervention, which he rejected.
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