A poll YouGov did for Yahoo News last week, whose results were released today, showed that Americans think Biden's top priority should be Russia and Ukraine (tied with inflation at 23%), with immigration (12%), healthcare (7%), Climate (6%) and everything else trailing. 70% of Americans are following developments in Ukraine either very closely (30%) or somewhat closely (40%). 86% of respondents said they consider the situation in Ukraine either very important (54%) or somewhat important (32%).
Overall, only 9% of Americans see Putin in a favorable light, while 76% see him unfavorably. Among Republicans, however, Putin's favorability is at 14%. When asked if Russia's invasion of Ukraine was justified or not, 6% said it was and 74% said it wasn't. Among Republicans, though, 9% said it was justified.
This morning, Washington Post wag Jennifer Rubin wrote in a column, Romney Is Right: MAGA Republicans Are 'Almost Treasonous', that "Trump spent four years (plus a year campaigning) cozying up to and helping further the geopolitical aims of Russian President Vladimir Putin. If Putin had handpicked an agent to be president of the United States, he could hardly have expected better results; Trump certainly exceeded any expectations Putin might have had with his disparaging NATO, extorting Ukraine by withholding military aid, leaving Russia’s election-meddling unpunished, inviting Putin back into the Group of Seven and attacking our own intelligence community. To this day, the defeated former president continues to praise Putin ('smart'), and continues to denigrate the United States ('dumb') and our allies." She then noted that yesterday Romney "called out Putin’s admirers in his own party as 'almost treasonous'. Romney hit on an uncomfortable truth: The GOP’s Putin apologists include also the loudest and most odious Trump supporters."
She concluded that a "category of Republicans-- including Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Fox News’s Carlson-- remains supportive of Putin. A flock of right-wing media personalities echo their namesake America Firsters of the 1930s, who insisted we had no dog in Europe’s war. (Consider what would have occurred if Trump had been elected in 2020. Ukraine, perhaps the Baltics too, would be cooked, and the West would be in disarray.) How long can Romney and Cheney tolerate the cognitive dissonance required to remain in a party aligned with Trump and Putin apologists? There comes a time when a united front means putting aside partisan differences and doing whatever it takes to stop a pro-Putin, pro-Trump faction from returning to power."
And right on cue. McConnell just did what McCarthy has adamantly refused to do-- he condemned Marjorie Traitor Greene and Paul Gosar for headlining the white nationalist convention in Orlando over the weekend. The DCCC has been relentless badgering McCarthy about it and McCarthy has tried his best to ignore them, hoping it would all go away. McConnell has just guaranteed that it won't.
Burgess Everett and Olivia Beavers reported today that "Asked for comment on Greene and Gosar’s participation in the event, where far-fright fringe organizer Nick Fuentes urged the crowd to give 'a round of applause for Russia,' the Republican leader said in a statement on Monday afternoon: 'There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism.' During the weekend conference, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army attacked Ukraine, a chant of 'Putin' was heard in the crowd after Fuentes made his request for support of Moscow. Gosar spoke at the America First conference last year, when Fuentes urged the protection of the 'white demographic core.'"
The retiring [Adam] Kinzinger said in an interview on Monday that his party should be focused on Greene and Gosar-- not him-- but had little confidence in that playing out.
“What I think we should do is kick them out of the party. What do I think we’re going to do? Nothing. Liz and I can get censured, they’re going to get help up as the future leaders of the party,” he said in an interview.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “needs to do a press conference today denouncing Greene, Gosar, Fuentes, announcing Greene and Gosar are out of the conference, there’s no room for this,” Kinzinger added. “He’s not going to do that.”
...Greene defended herself in a weekend statement after absorbing a deluge of criticism for her appearance at the America First event, criticizing the “Pharisees in the Republican Party” and arguing she “won’t abandon these young men and women” who attended. Her move nonetheless drew condemnation from several prominent Republicans including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
And other House conservatives sought distance from Gosar and Greene. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) put it this way: “I do not apologize for other members and what they say or what they do. I do not support white supremacists, like Nick Fuentes, period.”
Boebert-- along with sex predator Matt Gaetz of Florida-- is considered Greene's top ally in the House. And no one is asking anyone-- God forbid!-- to condemn Tucker Carlson or Fox News in general, are they?
UPDATE: White Flag From McCarthy
McCarthy must have focus group-tested the position because he finally came out from under the bed and said Marjorie Traitor Greene's behavior was "unacceptable... For me it was appalling and wrong. And there’s no place in our party for any of this… The party should not be associated any time, any place with somebody who is anti-Semitic." He makes me want to puke. He took the easy way out for Republicans-- not mentioning racism, just anti-Semitism. And he claims he's going to "have a talk" with Traitor Greene. He didn't mention Gosar.