Republicans Just Can't Seem To Condemn Trump's Policy Shift Toward Putin

GOP officials who have supported Ukraine are trying to balance their opposition to Russia while remaining loyal to Trump.

Republican lawmakers and officials, some of whom are otherwise vocal in their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, continue to avoid condemning President Donald Trump’s recent hostile rhetoric toward Ukraine and the besieged country’s leader.

Over the past week, the president has become increasingly sympathetic toward Russia, which invaded neighboring Ukraine almost four years ago. On Saturday, Trump repeatedly lied about the war to right-wing attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference, falsely claiming that the U.S. has provided more military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine than Western Europe, and painting Kyiv as the reason the war has not yet ended.

Now, GOP officials who have spoken out against Russia and supported the U.S. backing of Ukraine are trying to balance those existing positions while remaining loyal to Trump, who has a history of trying to gain favor with Putin.

Just last week, Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.) called Putin a “war criminal” who should “be in jail for the rest of his life,” Sen. John Kennedy (La.) said he “makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Theresa,” and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) called him “a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy.” All three senators did not mention Trump by name.

“I think the president has been very critical of Putin, and I’m not sitting here defending Putin. Putin is not a good guy. At the same time, that’s up to the Russian people. That’s not up to us to make that decision,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.